Heroes Assembled
by Blue Boxes and Vampire Fangs
Summary: Dealing with her news, Scarlett has found herself wandering the halls of Stark Tower, waiting for the other shoe to drop. But when a mischievous god comes and kidnaps someone she cares about, the last thing Scarlett can do is sit by. Pulling in every connection she has, watch Scarlett Stark race against the clock in the 3rd installment of the Hero Chronicles.
1. Prologue

**AN: Here we go, the prologue for Assembled!**

 **As usual I do not own Marvel**

 **Read, Review and enjoy!**

* * *

 **Heroes Assembled**

* * *

 **Prologue**

 **Exactly 47 days after Diagnoses**

* * *

"Is it possible that I could take some samples?" The doctor asked looking between me and my dad.

I shrugged my shoulders and glanced over at my dad, who had his hands resting on his knees. I didn't blame him this was our tenth oncologist since Jemma had delivered the news, and all of them seemed to come up with the same answer.

I had an advanced case of Acute Promyelocytic Leukemia and there wasn't a foreseeable cure for it.

"No." My dad finally said standing up. "You can't."

The oncologist opened his mouth to protest while my dad turned to face me. "Let's go," he said.I nodded my head and began gathering my stuff. I couldn't blame either party in this. My dad had gotten his hopes up that maybe, just maybe, this might be the doctor to answer my situation. And the doctor wanted to play with the cancer in my blood. No one had ever seen a case like mine before.

"Sorry," I said to the doctor as I passed him. "Thank you for your time."

The doctor nodded his head and allowed us to pass.

"So there is another oncologist about thirty miles from here," my dad said as we approached the car.

I sighed. "Dad," I began.

My dad froze and then turned around.

I felt the words get caught in my throat, I wanted to tell him to forget it, that we weren't going to find some magical cure or some missing element, but seeing his face, I couldn't bring myself to dash that hope, not today.

"Can we go home?" I asked. "I'm tired."

He nodded his head. "Of course we can," he said as he opened the passenger door for me. I smiled as he closed the door, I hadn't technically lied, I _was_ tired. I was more tired than usual these days but that was to be expected.

My dad got in and we started heading back towards the brand new Stark tower.

I smiled seeing it up ahead. It was the latest and greatest, from the brains of both of us Starks. Clean energy, hopefully if our calculations were correct, the tower would run itself for a year alone on the was something that I was particularly proud of, I had spent so many years working on the arc reactor and for this to be my swan song, I couldn't be happier.

Now I know what you are thinking, I sounded pretty accepting of the fact that I was dying. I wasn't, not even a little, I was scared of what was going to happen to my body, to me. But I couldn't tell my dad just how terrified I was, not when I knew there wasn't anything else to save me.

"You've given up," my dad stated.

I lifted my head from the window and looked over at him. "Dad," I sighed again, not knowing the answer to that question.

"It's ok," he said. "I gave up when I thought I was going to die. But you didn't, and Scarlett, I'm not giving up on you."

A small smile formed as I laid my head back against the window as we approached the underground parking of the tower.

We got out and I started to walk over to my new car. It wasn't my 67 Impala but I had a soft spot for the blue mini cooper that replaced it. I wasn't fully in love yet, but I was well on my way.

"Where you going?" My dad asked as he saw me get into the car.

"I need to tell Clint," I confessed. "And Peter. It's time to let them know."

We were silent for a minute before my dad nodded. "Be home before dinner," he said.

I grinned and nodded before getting into my tiny cooper and driving to the apartment.I used my key to get into the apartment; I glanced around it and felt a little guilty. While Clint seemed okay with my moving out and was happy that my dad and I were getting along, I couldn't help but feel a little guilty at leaving him alone again.

"Big Bird?" I called out looking around the front room and the kitchen for him.

"I'll talk to you later," I heard him rush the end of a phone call.

There were footsteps and I finally saw him walking out of his bedroom.

"What's up?" He asked as he slipped his phone into his back pocket.

I sighed and headed towards the bar stool and took a seat. Clint followed my lead and took the seat beside me. Taking a deep breath, my eyes started to water. I had told my dad that I had cancer, I hadn't told anyone else about it. It sucked and it wasn't something that I was looking forward to telling anyone ever again.

"What is it?" Clint asked putting his hand on my shoulder.

"Uh," I said wiping my hands on my jeans. "I need to tell you something."

Clint remained quiet, allowing me the strength to tell him what I needed to.

"I, uh, I have acute promyelocytic leukemia." I said.

"Leukemia?" Clint asked, the light in his tone gone.

I nodded my head. "It's bad," I squeaked out not meeting his eye.

Clint grabbed my hand. "How long?"

"I can't get an answer," I confessed. "It's so mutated because of the S.H.I.E.L.D. gunk. They're afraid to even try a form of chemo with it."

"Shit," he swore. "Is there any-?" he trailed off.

Shaking my head I hiccupped. "I've been to 10 different oncologists, all the same answer."

Silence answered us as I finally looked at Clint. "So I guess what I'm really wondering is that will you watch Max after I'm gone?" I asked, a tear leaked out of the corner of my eye. "I don't think that my dad will be able to."

Clint was quiet for a moment before he nodded hesitantly. "I'm gone a lot," he reminded me.

I nodded my head. "I know, but he likes you and I can't think of anyone else who will take him."

"What are you doing this weekend?" He asked suddenly.

I blinked and thought about it for a moment. "Nothing?" I eventually answered even though it sounded more like a nodded. "Don't make plans I have something to show you, and bring Max."

"Ok," I said a little confused to what Big Bird had planned.

The end of our conversation was concluded with Clint getting a call from Phil that he was being summoned back to base.

"This weekend." Clint said point his finger at me.

"This weekend." I promise.

We walked together down to the garage and separated with a quick hug to our own cars.

* * *

I started my Cooper, two more stops today. Backing out I decided to swing by Steve's first, it wouldn't be as sad and emotional. I had only known the man for a couple of weeks now but I somehow felt guilty for getting cancer. I knew I was one of the only people he interacted with and to know that I was going to leave him, it ate at me.

I made quick work of finding an actual parking spot, which was considerably easier to do in my Cooper than my baby. And half walked, half ran to Steve's door, knocking before I could lose the courage I had found to tell everyone on my list. I waited and kept my fingers crossed that he wasn't home.

He was. That home body.

"Shouldn't you be out exploring?" I asked as he opened the door for me to step in.

"Then I wouldn't be here to answer the door for you," Steve countered.

I smiled as I looked around Steve's apartment. It was covered in sticky notes, sticky notes that I had placed there and I couldn't help but bring a smile as I glanced around.

"Still have the sticky notes?" I asked as I sat on the couch.

A few days after Steve was given this apartment by S.H.I.E.L.D. I'd made a stop by to see how he was doing, which was pretty terrible. During one of the actual times that he was out I snuck over and put sticky notes up all over his apartment, telling him how to work certain aspects of today's technology. Plus a binder full of more detailed versions if he needed something explained. And another binder that started telling Steve about the history he missed.

Now I know what you are thinking, wow, that's a lot of work to put in. And it was, but it didn't take me a long time to do it. For the most part, ever since I found out about my leukemia, I'd had a hard time sleeping. So it only took me a couple of days and some sleepless nights. And boom, one handy dandy independent guide to informing yourself about the future appreciated it and I even got a hug out of him after I explained what I had done.

"They are really helpful," Steve commented as he sat in the chair across from the couch.

I gave him a small smile before I remembered what I was here for. "I, uh, actually need to talk to you," I whispered out.

Steve leaned forward in concern. "What's wrong?" He asked.

"The day I met you, the day you woke up, I was actually at the base to get some tests done."

"Tests?"

"Medical testing, I hadn't been feeling well for a while and I needed to know what was wrong."

"And its bad?"

I found myself nodding my head. "Pretty bad," I confessed. "It's leukemia," I finished as I closed my eyes.

I felt Steve grab my hand and I opened my eyes.

"There isn't a cure," I whispered, "and nobody is sure of how long I have."

I felt pressure on my hand and I glanced down at them before meeting Steve's eyes.

He didn't offer any comfort and I was glad, I didn't want any. I had had enough of it to last me a while; the rest of my life really.

Steve stood up and walked to the kitchen. I sniffed before turning my shoulders to see what he was doing.

He was pulling some mugs out of his cabinet, I saw him glance over at my binder and follow some instructions that were written on it.

I couldn't help but feel a tug of, of something washing through me at seeing him.

He returned back with two cups of what looked like hot chocolate, a grin broke out as I took my cup from him.

"Thank you," I said as I took a small sip.

Steve beamed as he took his own sip of his drank our hot chocolate in silence, it wasn't perfect, a little watery but I'd drink it again.

When we finished I grabbed the mug from Steve and headed towards the kitchen, I rinsed out the mugs and placed them in the dishwasher. I glanced up at Steve and noticed he had walked into the kitchen to lean against the wall next to the kitchen.

"Get out some more," I said with a small smile, my visit clearly coming to an end. "Make some friends."

Steve didn't say he would, but he also didn't say he wouldn't which I took as a win for today.

I headed towards the door and felt myself getting dizzy, I put my left hand to my head and I stopped walking.

"Scarlett?" I heard someone call out to me.

I stretched my hand out to grab a hold of something, but I didn't manage to before I fell.

* * *

 _I woke up and began to feel panic at seeing that I wasn't in Steve's apartment._

 _"Clara?" I heard a voice call out._

 _I stood up and turned around to face the voice. "Lo-Loki?" I asked hesitantly. Loki walked over to me._

 _"You're here?" he said_

 _"What's going on?" I asked as I looked around the room, it was completely bare, just four walls and us. "Where am I?"_

 _Loki didn't answer me as he cupped my face. He leaned down to kiss me and I felt my eyes flutter close as I kissed him back._

 _We pull back for breath and I felt reality set in. "No," I said as I pushed him away from me._ _"No?" he scoffed._

 _I straightened my back and turned back around to face him. "No." I stated, my voice stronger than before._

 _"And why not?" He asked as he took a step closer to me._

 _"Because you sent an Asgardian destroyer to kill your brother, and it destroyed a town!" I snapped._

 _"He didn't harm you," Loki said as he picked up my hand._

 _Flashes of that day passed through my mind, hiding that child behind me, those cold blank eyes. Thor calling out to his brother, distracting the destroyer from us. "You didn't make that choice, Thor made it for you," I said._

 _Loki growled as he tugged my hand closer, me following behind it. "Thor didn't make that decision for me." He said._

 _I pulled and pulled, but he didn't release my hand. "I told the destroyer to not touch you," he whispered in my ear. "That was my order."_

 _"Stop," I whispered back. "I don't know what this is, but stop it."_

 _Loki used his other hand to cup the back of my head and smashed his lips against mine, our teeth hitting against each other as he deepened the kiss. He pulled back for air but not releasing his grip._

 _"See you soon," he promised, his breath washing over me._

 _"What?" I asked. "This is a dream, I passed out at-"_

 _But I didn't get the chance to finish my sentence, as I felt myself get dizzy again and I slumped into Loki's arms._

* * *

"Scarlett?" I heard someone calling out. "Scarlett!?"

My eyelids fluttered and I blinked them open, before squeezing them again against the bright light. I groaned as I turned into whatever was holding me to hide them from the light. I groaned as I turned into whatever was holding me to hide them from the light."Scarlett," I heard the voice call out to me again.

I opened my eyes and blinked. "Steve?" I asked as he helped me sit up.

I looked over and saw Steve's baby blues staring back at me in concern. "Are you ok?" he asked.

I licked my lips before looking around his apartment. "What happened?" I asked him back.

Steve picked me up. I yelped and threw my hands around his neck. He sat me back down on the couch and then kneeled in front of it. "You passed out on your way out," he said.

I thought about what I remember before. "We had hot chocolate," I began. "And then I washed the cups."

"On your way out, you started to falter, and then you passed out. I managed to grab you before you hit the floor," Steve said.

I nodded my head and squeezed his hand. "Thank you," I said.

Steve shook my apology away and I went to stand up.

Steve stood up and held his hands up, ready to catch me if I fell again.

"I'm good," I said waving away his hands. "I'm fine."

Steve nodded his head but he kept close to me, just in case.

I opened the door and noticed Steve grab his jacket. "What are you doing?" I asked.

"I'm not going to let you leave here alone," Steve said. "You just passed out."

I felt a slight blush reach my cheeks as I faced the open door. "Well, when you put it that way," I said as we headed out.I looked at my tiny Mini Cooper and then looked back at Steve. "Um I don't think that you can fit in my car," I said.

Steve laughed and the two of us got into the car. Steve could barely fit in it, but he managed it. It was hilarious and every time I glanced over at him I started laughing. Thank god Steve had a sense of humor because he started to laugh as well.

By the time we made it back to Stark Tower we both were in considerably better moods than before.

"Thank you," I said as I locked Cooper.

Steve shrugged his shoulders in response.

"How are you going to get back to your apartment?" I asked.

"I'll walk," Steve said.

I paused for a moment raising an eyebrow at Steve, I glanced outside and then back at our garage.

"Here," I said as I walked over to one of the motorcycles and tossed Steve the keys. "Don't crash it," I said.

Steve looked down at the keys and then back up to me. "I promise," he replied.

I gave him a small smile and turned around to head back inside as I heard the low rumble of the bike.

* * *

 **AN: There you guys go, your first little taste of what's yet to come!**

 **Tell me your thoughts in the little box below!**


	2. Chapter 1

**I don't own any thing having to do with Marvel or Disney**

 **As Always AN at the bottom**

 **Read, Review and Enjoy!**

* * *

 **Chapter One**

 **Exactly 2 months and 13 days since diagnosis**

* * *

I flopped down at the couch of the tower. It was finally finished, there was only one step left to do. And that was put the arc reactor onto the power line.

My dad and I were going to do it tonight and I couldn't be more excited.

Actually, I couldn't be more exhausted, the past month I've been getting a little worse and worse every day. But I was excited that we were going to get this completely done.

"Scar," Pepper called as she walked into the hallway and down to our living room. "Your birthday is in three days, what do you want to do?"

I groaned as I threw my arm over my eyes. "I don't know," I confessed, "something small, I know we normally do the gala, but not this year. Just family." _Whatever is left of it,_ my mind sneered.

Pepper patted my leg as she walked away from the couch.

* * *

I made my way back to my lab, I had spent a lot of time in here, by myself. When I finally told Peter, he was angry that I wasn't doing chemotherapy. He was livid that I had given up. Peter didn't do well with death and I didn't do well with staying and fighting. I haven't had a chance to talk to him since I told him. We were both trying to pretend that this wasn't happening, that our friendship wasn't falling apart. I had found that I had started to take that route with most of my relationships as time went on, to just let them fall away. I tried to justify it by saying it was for the best, for both of us. But it wasn't, it was harder for me, but easier for them.I smiled as I sat at my desk and picked up a picture frame that I had put there a few weeks ago. It was of Max and me, we were out on a farm, Clint's farm in fact. Because, turns out that Clint wanted to show me that he had a family, a wife and two kids who I adored. But he also had a dog named Lucky. Max and Lucky got along like best buds so I asked if it was ok if I could leave my dog there. Lila was happy to have another dog so Laura said yes.

Laura was wonderful and I'm pretty sure that Clint told her my situation and that's why they agreed to have me down, but I was okay with that. That farmhouse had become my little haven. Whenever I need some peace I would always head over there. Make lunch with Laura, color with Lila, Cooper and I had a tendency to start to build things and leave them unfinished around the house. Clint was thrilled about that.

"Your father is looking for you," Jarvis' voice came through the speaker. "he is in the living room"

"Ok," I said softly as I headed back out into the living room.

"There she is," I heard my dad call out.

I walked over to him, he gave me a quick hug and we headed over to our little work table by the bar.

"We should be ready to go," I said as I pulled out the hologram of the reactor and looked at it.

"I'll get in the suit a little bit later tonight," my dad said as he looked over the reactor with me. "when it gets dark"

"sounds like a plan" I replied as my stomach started to rumble.

"Feel like eating something a little more heavy than toast?" my dad asked as he looked over at me.I nodded my head and we headed down to the kitchen.

I hopped on the counter and looked over at him as he started to rummage in the refrigerator. "What do you want to make?" I asked.

My dad chuckled as he started to open the cabinets, giving up on the fridge. "Something easy," he replied.

We eventually decided on macaroni and cheese, Star Wars shaped of course. I grinned as I ate a cheesy R2D2.

My phone went off and I glanced down at the number, I didn't recognize it so I hit decline and flipped my phone over. Looking up just in time see my dad throw a C3PO at me. I ducked and yelled. "Hey," as I threw my own droid at him.

"Oh you are in trouble now," he said as I saw him lean over to grab a handful of flour from the container it was in.

"No!" I yelled as I jumped off the counter, my bowl of noodles tucked under my arm, and took off down the hallway.

I could hear my dad swear as he began to chase after me, I took a sharp left and opened the door to the stairs. I bolted down a flight and ran into that level. It was an empty guest level.

"Jarvis," I panted as I set my bowl on the counter of that kitchen. "Run the elevator and take it down five floors," I said.

"Yes ma'am," the British A.I. responded.

"And don't tell my dad where I am, I call dibs on you for the fight."I swore I could hear a laugh in Jarvis' tone as he stated that he would be on my side.

I was still pretty short of breath so I grabbed a glass and filled it up with water. I sipped slowly as I took deep breaths. It was a completely stupid thing for me to do given my state of health, but I couldn't help myself. I was having fun with my dad.

I sat on the couch and curled up on the side, I rested my head on the arm as I closed my eyes. I only needed a few minutes to get my energy back.

* * *

I woke up only to see my dad's face right in front of me.

"That's terrifying," I commented as he helped me sit up.

"Well you are the one who fell asleep," my dad quipped as he steadied me.

I gave him a small smile and then I noticed that it was dark outside. "How long was I asleep?" I asked.

"A few hours," my dad said. "The sun just set."

The fact that I managed to actually fall asleep for a few hours shocked me. I hadn't been sleeping well since I came home from the whole Ivan thing. Nightmares.

"So," I said trying to distract myself from those thoughts. "Have you put the reactor in yet?"

My dad scoffed. "Like I would do that without you," he said as he grabbed my hand as we headed to the main floor.

"Here ya go," he said as he dropped me off next to Pepper. They had pulled up a hologram of the tower.

I smiled at Pepper as she gave me a one armed hug. "Nice nap?" she asked.

I nodded. "I feel great," I admitted.

"I'm glad," Pepper said.

I closed my eyes and leaned against her.

"And I'm out," I heard my dad call. I opened my eyes and laughed as I saw him walk out to the walkway, Jarvis putting the suit on as he walked to the edge of the tower. It was his idea to make that walkway so the suit could come off. I told him it was ridiculous but he wanted it. I would never tell him how cool it actually was.

We stood outside for a few moments as he left the tower, before Pepper turned to me, I noticed there was a scowl on her face.

"What did I do now?" I asked as I took a step back, stepping away from her embrace.

Pepper handed me a tablet and I looked down at it. "Oh," I breathed out.

"Yeah, oh," Pepper said as she took the tablet away from me."Does dad know?" I asked.

"No," she said as she set the tablet on the table.

" _Can you hear me loud and clear?"_ My dad's voice came over the speaker.

I glanced at Pepper before walking up to the table and putting in an earpiece. "We hear you," I told him.

I hit the mute on the mike as I turned back to Pepper. "How did you find it?" I asked.

Pepper took a deep breath. "Is that really what you want to talk about?" she asked.

"Mom," I began.

"You planned your own funeral!" she snapped.

I flinched; I had never heard Pepper yell at anyone before, let alone me.

"Have you given up?" Pepper asked. "Do you really think you are going to die?"

"Yes," I whispered before repeated it louder. "Yes, I have. I'm dying. I'm dying and there isn't anything that anyone can do about it. There isn't a cure. There isn't an element waiting to be discovered. It's cancer."

"So what? You're just going to keep planning things like this?" Pepper yelled, not deterred from my statement. "Just keep filing away things like your life is just some lines on a page?"

"What do you want me to do?" I asked.

"I want you to fight," Pepper said. "I want you to know that your life means something and to sit here and file it away like you have been is an insult to yourself."

I took a deep breath and opened my mouth to retort when my dad's voice stopped me.

" _Stark Tower is about to become a beacon of self sustaining clean energy,"_ he said over the comm.

I glanced at Pepper and hit the mute button once more to turn the function off. "Assuming that our reactor works," I reminded him.

" _Please, like we would ever make something that doesn't work,"_ he replied.

I laughed. "Light it up." I told him.

There was a flicker of the lights and I knew that we were running on the reactor, successfully.

"How does it look?" I asked as I read the readings that were coming through.

"Like Christmas, but with more Stark-ness," he said.I smiled at the picture. "I've got to see it like you do," I said. "Hurry home so we can celebrate."

I hit the mute button and then turned back to Pepper who had a sad smile on her face.

"I planned my funeral because I knew that he couldn't," I began. "I've taken care of every single aspect of what happens when I pass because I know that he won't be able to. And you shouldn't have to. You're asking me to believe in the hope that either my dad or modern medicine will not only find a cure for cancer, but for my specific strain. You want me to hope for a miracle and I can't do that. It's not something that I can do. But what I can do is make sure that me dying in what I suspect will be painful and awful can be a little bit easier for those that I love."

* * *

My dad landed on the walkway and we turned our head to watch him walk in.

"Sir, Agent Coulson is on the line," Jarvis' voice rang out.

I groaned, Phil only ever called when there was an emergency and even though I wanted to spend the night with my dad celebrating, he was needed.

My dad however, kept walking inside and his eyes met mine. "How does it feel to be a genius?" he asked.

I rolled my eyes but a smile started to come across my face as I headed over to him. "I don't know, how _does_ it feel to be a genius?" I asked him.

My dad grinned and we hugged, I buried my head into his chest, right next to the arc reactor. "We did it," I whispered.

My dad squeezed me. "We did it," he agreed.

"Sir, the telephone, I'm afraid my protocols are being overridden," Jarvis said.

My dad sighed and he let go of me. Walking over the couch he picked up the phone and cleared his throat.

"You have reached the life model decoy of Tony Stark," he began.

I rolled my eyes and walked over to my dad. I picked up my phone, which I had left on the table. My eyebrows scrunched as I noticed that I had missed several phone calls from Phil.

"This is urgent," I heard Phil's voice say.

"Then leave it urgently," my dad replied.

My head snapped over to him and I glared at him. "Dad," I said.

"We're celebrating," my dad quipped back.I rolled my eyes as I grabbed the phone from my dad. "Come on up," I told him.

My dad looked offended as the elevator opened and Agent Phil Coulson stepped out.

"Security breach!" my dad yelled. "That's on you," he pointed to me.

I rolled my eyes as I stood up and walked over to him. "Phil" I called out as I walked over to him.

Phil gave me a very stressed smile. "Glad to see that you are here," he said. "You weren't answering your phone."

"Yeah," I cringed. "I might have fallen asleep and left my phone."

He nodded his head as I felt my dad walk up to my side.

"Phil!" Pepper said as she walked out into the main room. She headed towards us and my dad threw his arm around her waist.

"Come on in we're celebrating," Pepper offered.

"Which is why he can't stay," my dad said.

I rolled my eyes and poked him in the side as I took the file Phil had in his hands. "Thank you," I said.

Phil nodded his head and I motioned for my dad to follow me to the work table.

* * *

"Is this about the Avengers Initiative?" Pepper asked.

Both of our heads snapped up and turned towards Phil and Pepper.

"Mom," I whined.

"Which I know nothing about," Pepper added.

"The Avengers Initiative was scrapped," my dad said as he started to throw the things on the file on the hologram screen. "And I didn't even qualify."

"Which we aren't still upset about at all," I quipped.

My dad threw me his best bitch face as Phil spoke up. "This isn't about personality profiles," he said.

The sound on the files started playing and my attention was diverted to the screens.

Captain America, Hawkeye, Black Widow, Hulk, and Thor.

All people to me, not superheroes but actual people to me; people I care about. People I was about to leave.

"Ms. Potts," my dad called Pepper over to us.

Pepper walked over to our little gang and glanced at the screen.

"I thought we were having a moment," my dad said. "Just the three of us, together as a family."

I smiled as I rested my head on his arm.

"Listen, Phil looks really shaken," Pepper said."Why is he _Phil_?" my dad asked looking between the two of us.

"We need to help," I said.

"I'll take the jet to D.C., do all of the press for the tower. You two focus on this," Pepper said.

"Tomorrow," my dad said. "We're celebrating, as a family."

I squeezed his hand, I knew why he was pushing this so hard. Why we wanted tonight for just the three of us. Because who knew how many nights like this we had left.

"We have homework," I reminded him.

"Scarlett's right," Pepper said.

"What if we didn't?" my dad offered.

"You mean when you finished?" Pepper offered with a smirk.

"Ew, gross," I said as I stepped away from the couple. I headed towards Phil with a sad smile.

* * *

"I'm sorry I didn't answer the phone," I said. "Is everything alright?"

"No," Phil answered. "And I'm sorry but I need your help."

"Well I gathered that from the missed calls," I commented back, "but will you please tell me what's going on?"

Phil paused for a moment before he looked over at my dad and Pepper.

"Clint's been compromised," he said.

I heard a rushing in my ears as I tried to comprehend what Phil was saying "Clint?" I asked weakly.

Phil nodded his head. "How much do you know about the Tesseract?" he asked.

"All of it." I whispered as I still was trying to wrap my head around the whole Clint-being-compromised.

"There was a God, Loki, he came through the Tesseract and took Clint and a few other of our agents," Phil summed up for me.

Loki, he had come through and grabbed Clint. Loki. "I'm gonna throw up," I said as I felt my knees buckle. Phil caught me and looked at me concerned.

"Scarlett?" Phil asked.

My parents rushed over and my dad grabbed me from Phil's hands.

"Scarlett!" I heard my dad call me.

His calloused hands cupped my cheeks as I focused my gaze on his eyes. The same color brown that mine were. He was saying words that I couldn't hear over the ringing in my ears. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath before opening them again."You with me?" he asked, searching my eyes.

I nodded and grabbed my dad's wrists. "I'm good," I promised.

He helped me stand up before turning to Phil. "What did you say?" he growled at the agent.

"Dad," I warned placing my hand on his chest. "It's fine, I asked and he told me."

"Well this just proves it, you're staying home," my dad said. "grounded"

I gave him a small quirk of my lips as Phil cleared his throat. "Unfortunately Mr. Stark we need Scarlett," he admitted.

"For what?" my dad asked defensibly.

"We are in need of the world's leading gamma scientist and we can't seem to find him," Phil said as he shot me a glare.

"And why can't you find him?" Dad asked.

I bit my lip and gave a shrug. "Because I helped him hide," I offered.

My dad looked shocked while Phil just had this proud look on his face.

"What?" I asked. "I needed his help and I promised him that I would help him in return."

My dad just chuckled and patted me on the back. "That a girl," he praised as he picked up the file again. " I don't like this, you just leaving"

"I know" I said as I took a closer step towards my dad "but we are both needed, besides, it's not like I'll be in any danger"

My dad huffed, "You can go get this doctor, but you have Natashalie go with you. And then you get to the super secret base and you stay there. No more helping after that, you got it? You're grounded once you get there."

I opened my mouth to protest but I saw Pepper behind him giving me a small shake of her head. So I decided to nod and let him go ahead with his overprotective dad stint.

"Good," my dad said as he walked out of the room.

I raised my eyebrow at Pepper at his actions who shrugged as I looked over at Phil.

"Is Natasha available?" I asked.

Phil chuckled. "Natasha is one of the only people who may want to get Clint back more than you."

I nodded my head and turned to see my dad walking back out with a briefcase. "Um," I asked. "Planning a robbery?"

"Nope," my dad said handing me the case. "It's for you." I raised my eyebrow but took it none the less. "Ok, let me pack a bag and then we can go."

Phil nodded and the three adults started to talk as I left the room.

I threw clothes and some tools I thought I might need as quickly as I could. I pulled my phone out and saw a text message from Laura.

 _'Will you please tell me what's happening?'_

I closed my eyes as I took a deep breath and wrote my reply.

' _Please don't worry, Natasha and I are going to take care of everything, I promise.'_

I slipped the phone back into my pocket and grabbed my bag.

"Ready?" I asked as I made my way back into the living room, ignoring the fact that the adults stopped talking as soon as I walked back into the room.

"You going to tell me where we are going?" Phil asked as I planted a kiss on Pepper's cheek.

"Nope," I replied as I gave my dad a hug.

My dad squeezed me extra tight as pulled away and I shot him a wink as I turned back towards Phil.

"Why not?" Phil asked a little annoyed as I pushed the button on the elevator.

"Well, A, because I'm not giving you time to send your goons to the where he is, because I trust him. And, B, I want to fly a quinjet and this is my only shot," I replied as I stepped into the elevator, my bag and the briefcase in hand.

* * *

The doors slid shut as I heard my dad laughing at my antics.

"How's the cellist?" I asked turning to Phil.

"She moved back to Portland," he responded.

"What?" I exclaimed.

Phil nodded his head. "Boooo," I sang.

* * *

The drive to the quinjet was quiet between us as I went over the file of what happened at the base. It was sloppy, clearly having been written in a hurry but all I could think about was the fact that Clint was gone. My Big Bird had been taken, and I wasn't going to allow it.

I was also terrified of what I was going to do about Loki. We had that one night, could I count on that to form any sort of connection? Could I talk to him and try to figure out what his plan was, using that? Or was I just shit outta luck and put us at a bigger disadvantage for our team because of that past?

"It's going to be ok," Phil said, pulling me out of my thoughts.

"Huh?" I asked turning to face him.

"We are going to get this taken care of everything is going to be ok," Phil said.

I nodded my head as the car pulled up to the tarmac and we got out.

I saw Natasha standing there with her own bag. I gave her a nod which she returned.

"See you at the base?" I asked Looking back at Phil.

He nodded and I turned to head up the quinjet.

"Are you going to tell me where we are going?" Natasha asked as I sat the bags on a chair.

"Sure not," I replied as I strapped myself into the pilot's seat of the quinjet.

Natasha huffed as she plopped herself in the co-pilot's seat. "Only you could get away with not telling me something like this," she grumbled.

I laughed as I started the plane. "If we weren't going to meet who we were going to meet then I would tell you guys."

"But you don't want to scare him," Natasha finished.

"No, I don't want you guys sending a troop of goons to him before I get there. Dr. Banner is a person, a really good person and he doesn't deserve the treatment he has gotten from you guys," I said as we went down the runway for take-off.

"Fair enough," Natasha gave as she propped her feet up on the dashboard. "To go recruit Dr. Banner we go."

* * *

 **I just want to say wow, you're guys response was overwhelming for this story, I can't wait to give you guys the rest of it!**

 **I'm actually suppose to be writing a term paper for my sociological theory class right now, so I won't do Notes on Review for the last chapter I promise I will do it next chapter so if you have any questions go ahead and leave them again.**

 **A huge thanks to everyone, and back to writing about Comte's theory on government today I go!**


	3. Chapter 2

**AN: chapter 2!**

 **Read, Review, and Enjoy!**

* * *

 **Chapter Two**

 **Exactly 2 months and 13 days and 12 hours since diagnosis**

* * *

I sat in the chair of the abandoned house that Natasha had picked, and I was pouting. Natasha had decided to recruit some child to draw Dr. Banner to the edge of the city. She still wouldn't believe me that Dr. Banner would cooperate with us if we just asked nicely.

I looked to my left as the kid ran through the house and snuck out the window with Dr. Banner following right behind her.

He sighed. "Should have gotten paid up front, Banner," he told himself.

I smiled. "That's a personal rule, I like to follow," I commented. Dr. Banner jumped slightly as I stood up and walked over to him. "It's good to see you again Dr. Banner."

He gave a small smile and nodded. "Clara," he said.

"Its Scarlett now," I corrected.

"Scarlett," he trailed off. "What are you doing here?"

I sighed and walked over to the table where Dr. Banner followed. I slid him the file and watched as he picked it up. I sat on top of the table and waited for him to look back up at me.

"I'm actually here as a favor for S.H.I.E.L.D.," I could see him tense as I held up my hands. "Hear me out," I promised.

Although he didn't relax he did nod his head as allowed me to continue.

"S.H.I.E.L.D. was testing the Tesseract. And some bad things happened and the bottom line is that an angry Norse god came from the other side of space using the Tesseract, and he took it and someone I care a lot about. So we need your help in finding it."

"We?" he asked clearly surprised.

I nodded my head. "I'm going to do everything in my power to get this person back. But the Tesseract emits a gamma signal that is super hard to trace. You're the best person for the job. So here I am."

"So Fury isn't after the monster," Dr. Banner commented as he picked up the file that was on the table.

"Probably not," I replied.

Bruce's eyebrow quirked. "You're not doing a great job on this whole persuading thing, you know."

I walked over to him and put my hand on the file, next to his. "I'm not going to lie to you Bruce, I don't know what Fury's plan is, and there will probably be a cage or room to put you in should the Hulk decide to show up. But I'm asking for your help, I'll be there with you and I'll make sure that both you and Hulk are safe. I promise."

Bruce however, didn't look convinced. "So, what? I'm supposed to believe that S.H.I.E.L.D. asked you to come here, that they let you come alone to deal with me?" He said.

I sighed and smacked him on the shoulder. "I'm not dealing with anybody, you're not something that needs to be dealt with, I'm asking for your help. And no, I'm not alone," I added.

Bruce looked up and I pointed to the small room off to the side of the house.I could hear Natasha huff as she opened the door and stepped out. "I was supposed to be your back up," she growled.

"Which I don't need," I countered before looking back at Bruce. "So what do you say doc, feel like helping me out?"

Bruce didn't want to say yes, I could see it in his eyes, his glance shifted back over to Natasha and then back to me.

"Same deal as before?" I added hoping the promise of another clean get away would entice him.

It was, or at least Natasha being there was enough of a reason to say yes.

* * *

I was tapping on the control panel of the quinjet waiting for Dr. Banner to show up. Natasha kept shooting glances at me but I was trying to avoid them. As far as I knew only Phil and Clint were aware of my situation. Granted I now actually looked like I was sick but I hoped that it was all speculation on the super spy's part.

"Have you always been this reckless?" Natasha suddenly asked. "Or is this just a thing you Starks do when you're dying?"

Well, so much for speculation. "I'm going to need some clarification," I said. "Because if you're talking about flying, I totally have my license and everything."

"I'm talking about you confronting Dr. Banner with no back up, is it because you just don't care if you die or not?"

"Listen." I snapped turned to face Natasha. "I didn't confront anyone; I asked for Dr. Banner's help, I don't need back up to ask someone for their help. It has nothing to do with me dying."

"So you are," Natasha said.

"Are what?" I asked confused at what she was talking about.

"Dying, you are dying."I closed my eyes and let out a long breath through my nose resting the back of my head against the chair. I opened my eyes and stared out of the window at the stars. "Yes," I whispered, "I'm dying."

Natasha said something in Russian but I ignored her and kept talking, she wanted the story, she was going to get it. "It's cancer, leukemia to be specific. I had it before everything happened. And after all of the 'orange gunk' that S.H.I.E.L.D. pumped me full of, it's mutated and now there isn't an oncologist that can come up with an idea of how to help me."

Natasha had taken a sharp breath and was about to say something when we both heard Bruce's footsteps on the back of the quinjet.

"Ready?" I called back with a smile.

Bruce nodded his head as I turned back to Natasha. "Gonna tell me where the super secret base is?"

Natasha just shook her head and I sighed. "Fine," I replied as I unstrapped and walked back to the seat next to Bruce and plopped down. "Let's fly."

* * *

The trip was quick and quiet. Bruce spent the time looking over the file while I just played with my fingers. I was nervous being surrounded by people I cared about and only half of them knew my situation. I was tired of explaining it to everyone and I was tired of defending my decision.

* * *

We landed and Bruce bolted out of the quinjet. I grabbed my bag and the mysterious suitcase my dad had for me and left, too.

Bruce was looking a little out of place so I headed over to him.

"Dr. Banner," I heard someone call out to him before I reached him.

We both swung around and I couldn't help the smile that reached my face as I saw Steve walk towards to him. I walked up and stood to the side of all separated as we headed out to explore. I headed over to the row of computers that looked to be tracking Clint and shooed the poor guy that was sitting in the chair. I started pulling up every bit of information they had gathered.

"Gentlemen," Fury called out once the Helicarrier was leveled. Both Steve and Bruce made their way towards the center where a giant table sat.

I looked over at my shoulder just in time to see Steve reach into his pocket and hand Fury some cash. I scrunched my eyebrows in confusion as I turned back to the screen, reading the results of the scans they've ran while still listening to the conversation that was going on between the men.

"Doctor, thank you for coming," Fury said.

"Well thanks for sending Scarlett and asking nicely," Bruce replied.

I shot up my hand and waved away his answer and then continued back on my project. I could feel Natasha walk up behind me on the catwalk and crouch down so she could see what I was doing.

"So how long am I staying?" he asked.

"Once we get our hands on the cube, you're free to go," Fury replied.

"Any time you want to leave say the word," I said loud enough that the two of them could hear. "You're a guest who is helping."

"What are you doing?" Natasha asked me as I started working on the parameters of what S.H.I.E.L.D. was scanning for.

"You guys are searching for Clint," I murmured.

"Yes, that's the point," Natasha said.

"True, but he is a spy," I retorted. "Do you know who isn't?"

Natasha glanced at the screen as Dr. Selvig's face popped up. "Looks like he's taught you a few things," she commented.

I felt a rush of pride swell through me as I stood up and looked at Natasha. "Laura texted me," I said softly enough only she could hear.

Natasha tensed but then unfroze as she nodded her head. "Me too."

"I told her not to worry that we were going to get him back," I replied.

"I told her the same," Natasha said as she helped me back up on the catwalk.

"We've got work to do," I said as the two of us headed over to the boys.

"Come on doc, we've got all the toys," Natasha said as she lead Dr. Banner to the lab.

* * *

I sighed as I turned to face Fury who was staring at me with his arms crossed.

"Ms. Stark," Fury said. "I don't recall inviting you on to my ship."

"I don't require an invitation," I quipped. "I do what I want."

"And if I asked you to leave?" Fury asked.

"Then I would take every piece of help I brought with me," I countered.

We were quiet for a few seconds as Fury took time to explore his options. He finally nodded his head and went back to his command station.

* * *

 _We're never going to find them,_ I thought to myself as I watched the computers search through every picture on the internet and surveillance feed for them.

I paused and pulled out my phone, a crazy and stupid idea hitting me. I finished and slipped my phone in my pocket and as I looked up I saw Steve staring at me. I offered him a small smile and turned to walk back outside.

It was practically deserted because of how high we were. The wind was flapping my hair around but I didn't care, I could breathe somewhat and this view was amazing. I walked out as far as I dared and looked around.

 _Hello world,_ I thought to myself. The clouds were amazing and I could imagine everyone below us, living their lives; just living in general. It was one of my favorite things about flying. Seeing the world like this, something that only a select few could. _You will forget me,_ I thought as I closed my eyes and took a deep breath.

I didn't want to die, not in the slightest. But hope was draining me both physically and mentally faster than acceptance was, so I chose the easier path. And now I couldn't help but wonder if it was the right one? If I had been working on something, could I have found a cure? Would I not be worrying about my health as I tried to find Clint?

I felt a weight on my shoulders and I opened my eyes to see Steve had put his jacket on me.I felt the blood rush to my cheeks as I pulled it tighter across me. "Thanks," I said.

"What are you doing out here?" he asked. "Isn't it hard to breathe?"

"It's always hard to breathe now a days," I countered. "But this view was worth the risk."

Steve tore his gaze from me to the view and he nodded in agreement.

"Besides," I said with a small cough. "It seemed like a good place to contemplate."

"Contemplate what?" Steve asked.

I looked back at him. "If I made the right decision," I whispered.

That was all Steve seemed to need as the two of us went back to viewing the sky.

I felt my phone vibrate and I pulled it out. I couldn't see with my hair being blown in the wind so I turned to Steve and showed him my phone before heading back inside. Steve followed as we stayed right behind the door.

"What is it?" Steve asked.

"I did something stupid," I remarked as I began scrolling through all of the pictures that had been tweeted to me. "In hopes that it would work."

"Did it?" Steve asked as I suddenly stopped.

I grinned and help up my phone to him. It was a picture of Loki walking into a building. "You tell me."

* * *

The two of us practically ran back into the command room.

"Phil," I called out, seeing my favorite agent. His head snapped up as I tossed him my phone. "What's going on in Germany tonight?"

Phil caught the phone and looked at it before laughing and looking back up at Steve. "Cap, you're up," he replied.

Steve immediately shifted into Captain America and nodded as he was led away from the command room.

Phil walked up to and handed me my phone back. "'I'm looking for a guy, tall, dark and mischief in his eyes. Want to help?'" he quoted.

I shrugged my shoulders. "I have 5 million followers," I replied. "Seemed to me that I should use them for something."

Fury walked up to the two of us. "It seems that you've found our god," he replied.

"Well to be fair _shootforthecomet76_ did," I said giving credit to where credit was due.

"Will Iron Man be making an appearance?" Fury asked.

I sent a message to Jarvis to reroute my dad's suit to meet Cap in Germany. "He is now."

"Coming?" Natasha asked as she walked into the command room, dressed in her Black Widow garb.

"Sure," I replied as I took a step forward.

"Nope," Phil countered as he grabbed my arm. "She's grounded."

"Phil!" I exclaimed in disbelief, the traitor was taking my dad's side.

"Come on," he said as he dragged me out of the room. "I'll take you to the lab."


	4. Chapter 3

**Hey guys, another chapter!**

 **Read, Review, and Enjoy**

* * *

 **Chapter Three**

 **Exactly 2 months and 13 days and 17 hours since diagnosis**

* * *

Bruce and I seemed to take sides of the lab. He had gotten a chuckle out of Phil sitting in front of the door until Natasha and Steve had left the carrier. He was really taking this whole "grounding" thing seriously.

I had started by helping him create an algorithm to help trace the gamma rays, but I was really out of my depth and he seemed to have it under control so I became a helper of sorts, really it just meant that I got him coffee whenever I noticed him starting to rub his eyes.

But for now I was working on my own little side project: me. I had a hologram pulled up of my body were I was currently staring at the cancer in me and how it was affecting me. I had gotten to the point where I was chewing on the end of one of my pens while I had another one holding my hair up and out of my face. I had also pulled up the chemical structure of the T-M7 and I was distributing my time between the two screens. It was amazing really, and had I not been suffering from what I currently was going through, I wouldn't have had a problem with the T-M7 and what S.H.I.E.L.D. was doing with it. But since I was, I could see the dangers and knew that it needed to stop being used, it clearly wasn't something natural for the human body. I turned my gaze towards the hologram and started typing. I knew it wasn't a cure but if injecting it in me again would at least heal me until I get Clint back then it would be worth it. I pulled one leg up for me to sit on and my other one with my foot resting on the chair so I could rest my chin on my knee. It was a precarious perch I had going on but it helps me study, I swear. The simulation was almost complete, and the results weren't good, my body was done with the T-M7. Adding another dose would be suicide, and by that I mean I was watching my body literally die before my eyes, when I heard my name being called.

"Scarlett," Bruce said again as I tore my eyes from the hologram.

"Hm?" I asked looking up at him, removing the pen from my mouth. He gestured towards the window with his head and I looked out. There were two rows of guards surrounding Loki, standing in front of the window. I felt my throat tighten as I noticed he was staring at Bruce before glancing to the hologram I had up and then finally resting his eyes on me. We made eye contact and I saw something of a smile or a smirk greet his face before the guards finally managed to drag him away from the window.

"That was weird," he commented as he looked at me.

"Yeah," I said before uncurling and standing up. "Really weird."

I started for the door. "Where are you going?" Bruce called out to me.

I turned around and motioned with my head. "The command room, I'm betting that Fury is going to interrogate him and I'd like to see it," I replied.

Bruce nodded his head and went back to his work.

"Doc," I called. "You coming?"

* * *

The two of us made our way to the command room and I slid into the chair next to Steve, I glanced at Natasha who just shook her head.

"What?" I asked.

"Lady Clara!" I heard Thor's voice boom.

I jumped and stood back up at seeing the blonde God. "Thor?" I asked as I approached him, giving a quick hug I looked up at him. "What are you doing here?"

"Heimdal saw Loki stealing the Tesseract, and the Allfather sent me here to stop him," he replied.

"So your dad's ok?" I asked.

Thor smiled and patted my shoulder while I gritted my teeth against the pain. "Yes, my friend, he is well." he replied.

"Well I'm glad to hear that," I said as I took a couple steps away from the god in case he got anymore ideas about the shoulder patting.

The screen popped on the talking between Fury and Loki began so I made my way back over to my chair and shared a screen with Steve.

"In case it's unclear, if you try to escape, if you so much as scratch that glass," Fury began as he walked over to the control panel and started pressing buttons. "It's 30,000 feet straight in a steel trap."

I couldn't help the rush of anger that I felt towards Fury, because that was the cage that was meant for Bruce if the Hulk decided to show up."Ant," Fury stated drawing me back out of my thoughts. "Boot."

Loki gave him a breathless chuckle. "It's an impressive cage, not built for the likes of me," he said.

"Built for something a lot stronger than you," Fury reminded him.

"Oh I know, the mindless beast, makes play he's still a man," Loki taunted.

I noticed a few people shifting around and looking at Bruce. I made eye contact with him as he chewed his glasses. "Don't listen to him," I told him softly.

Bruce nodded his head and the two of us went back to watching the screen.

"How desperate are you?" Loki asked. "That you call on such lost creatures to defend you? That you have such hopeless, sick allies on your side."The blood rushed to my cheeks as I pulled Steve's jacket a little tighter around me. I noticed the heroes staring at me but I was making a pointed effort to stare at the screen.

"How desperate am I?" Fury countered. "You threaten my world with war. You stole a force that you can't hope to control. You talk about peace, and you kill because it's fun. You have made me very desperate. And you might not be glad that you did."

"Oh," Loki mocked. "It burns you to have come so close; To have the Tesseract, to have power, unlimited power. And for what? A warm light for all mankind to share?" Loki glanced up at the screen and I felt my heart squeeze again. "And then to be reminded what real power is."

"Well let me know if real power wants a magazine or something," Fury quipped as he walked out of the room.

"No need, I'm pretty at home here," Loki quipped right back.

The screen went off and everyone started looking around at each other.

"He really grows on you doesn't he," Bruce said.

I gave a quick smile before glancing over at Steve who was still staring at me. I couldn't figure out why, but I glanced down and noticed that I still had his jacket on. "Oh," I said as I began to shrug it off. "I'm sorry, I totally stole your jacket."

"No," Steve said as he pulled the jacket back up my shoulders. "I'm fine, it looks good on you."I blushed as I nodded and pulled it closer around me.

"Loki's gonna drag this out," Steve added. "So, Thor, what's his play?"

"He has an army called the Chitauri, they are not of Asgard, nor any world known," Thor explained. "He means to lead them against your people. They will win him the earth, in return, I suspect, for the Tesseract."

"An army," I spoke up looking up at Thor, "from outer space."

"So he's building another portal," Bruce added. "That's what he needs Erik Selvig for."

"Selvig?" Thor asked looking at me.

I nodded my head. "Loki took him, and Clint."

"He has them under some sort of spell," Natasha piped up.

"I want to know why Loki let us take him," Steve commented "He's not leading an army from here."

"Let you?" I asked in confusion as I looked around the groupNatasha sighed. "There was an incident where Thor, Cap, and your dad all met and destroyed a national park," she explained.

"Oh," I sighed. "Well that's fantastic, I'll send some volunteers out to help clean up."

"That metal man is your father?" Thor asked.

"He's an acquired taste," I added as I closed my eyes and rubbed them.

"I don't think we should be focusing on Loki," Bruce said as he took the conversation away from my family. "That guy's brain is a bag full of cats, you could smell crazy on him."

"Have care how you speak," Thor warned. "Loki is beyond reason, but he is of Asgard, and he's my brother."

"He's killed eighty people in two days," Natasha said as she glared at Thor.

Thor paused for a moment. "He's adopted," he added.

"Thor, what happened after you left New Mexico?" I asked.

"Loki was going to destroy Jotunheim," Thor said. "He tricked Laufey into coming to kill Odin so he could start a war."

 _And prove he wasn't one of them,_ my head added as I nodded along with Thor's explanation.

"There was a fight and Loki was lost," Thor said. "He fell from the Rainbow Bridge."

"And you don't know what has happened to him in that year?" I asked.

Thor opened his mouth to reply when Bruce spoke up. "I think we need to focus on the mechanics. Iridium, what do they need the iridium for?"

"It's a stabilizing agent," I said along with another voice. I turned around and saw my dad walk in with Phil.

He shot me a smile as he realized that we had answered at the same time.

I watched as my dad made his way around the room. "No hard feelings point break, you've got a mean swing," he commented as he hit Thor's shoulder.

I snorted at his antics. "Also it means the portal can open as wide, and stay open as long, as Loki wants," I added seeing as my dad wasn't going to explain.

"Correct, daughter," my dad said as he pointed his finger at me. He spun around and stared at the control room. "Uh, raise the mid-mast, ship the top sails." I rolled my eyes, "That man is playing Galaga!" he suddenly yelled as he pointed at the crew. "Thought we wouldn't notice. But we did."

Steve looked around and then glanced at me, I shook my head and the two of us went back to the spectacle my dad was creating.

He covered one of his eyes. "How does fury even see these?" he asked.

"He turns," Maria Hill responded.

"Sounds exhausting," he muttered.

I chuckled as the heroes turned to look at me, I noticed dad putting something on the control panel but I didn't draw attention to it. "I mean it does," I offered.

"The rest of the raw materials Agent Barton can get his hands on pretty easily. Only major component he still needs is a power source," my dad said drawing the attention back to him.

"It would have to be of high energy density, something that could kick start the cube," I pointed out.

"When did you two become experts in thermonuclear astrophysics?" Maria Hill asked us.

"Last night," my dad quipped.

"I actually have a PhD in it," I said as I stood up. "Nice to know you guys do your research."

I walked over to my dad and leaned into him as he gave me a one armed hug, he dropped a kiss on the top of my head.

"Does Loki need any particular kind of power source?" Steve asked.

"He's got to heat the cube to a hundred and twenty million Kelvin just to break through the Coulomb barrier," Bruce said.

I felt my dad perk up at hearing someone else talk science with him. "Unless Selvig has figured out how to stabilize the quantum tunneling effect," my dad added.

"Well, if he could do that he could achieve heavy ion fusion at any reactor on the planet," Bruce said.

"Plus it's got to be a big enough area for you know, a giant army from outer space to come through," I added.

"Finally someone else who speaks English," my dad explained as he walked over to Bruce."Is that what just happened?" Steve asked.

The two of them shook hands and I couldn't help but feel happy that these two were getting along.

"It's good to meet you, Dr. Banner. You're work on anti-electron collisions is unparalleled. And I'm a huge fan of the way you lose control and turn into an enormous green rage monster," he said as they shook each other's hand.

There was a pause. "Dad!" I yelled.

"Thanks," Bruce replied.

"Dr. Banner is only here to track the cube. I was hoping you might join him," Fury said as he walked into the command room.

"Let's start with that stick of his. It may be magical, but it works an awful lot like a HYDRA weapon," Steve said.

"I don't know about that, but it is powered by the cube. And I'd like to know how Loki used it to turn two of the sharpest men I know into his personal flying monkeys," Fury said brushing Steve off.

My eyebrows furrowed in confusion as I looked at fury, how would he not know about HYDRA?

"Monkeys? I don't understand," Thor asked.

"I do!" Steve cheered. A huge grin erupted on my face as I stared at Steve. "I understood that reference," he repeated a little less excited. He looked up at me and I shot him a wink before turning to face my dad.

"Shall we go play?" I asked the two scientists.

"Actually," Natasha said. "I have some questions for you."

"Oh," I said taking a step towards her. "Okay."

"Speaking of questions," my dad said as I felt him tug on Steve's jackets.

"I'm going to file that under not necessary for right now," I said pulling the jacket out of my dad's reach.

"I also have questions," Thor added.

"Okay," I drawled out as I turned and hopped on the table. "Everyone make a line and we'll start with Thor.""When I was fighting with Loki before the Bifrost collapsed he mentioned you," Thor said.

 _Fuck,_ I thought to myself. "What did he say?" I asked.

"He said that I was lucky to have found someone to change me and that you might be the one for him," Thor said.

"Ok, I'm skipping that question, Natasha?" I asked, my voice cracking just a little.

"How does Loki know you?" Natasha asked.

"What makes you think he knows me?" I asked.

Steve cleared his throat. "When we were, well, fighting, Loki stood there and watched, Natasha asked why and he replied was that he had a meeting with you," he explained.

"Uh," I said as I scratched my neck. "Dad let's go to your question. I'm wearing Steve's jacket cause I got cold when I was outside. Ok? Ok so now that question time is over," I finished as I hopped off the table and headed towards the lab. "Let's go!"

* * *

I could hear talking behind me but I continued to the lab. I heard footsteps behind me but I ignored them. I eventually felt an arm tuck into mine. I looked up at whoever it was, my dad was trying really hard not to smile as we steered each other into the lab.

The lab door hissed shut and I looked up at him. "It's not funny," I pouted.

That was the breaking point as he started laughing.

"Stop it," I whined as he kept chuckling.

"That was terrible," he said as he walked over to the computers and started typing. "You are an awful liar."

I sighed as I put my head in my hands. "I know," I gave up.

"So you slept with the bad guy," my dad kept teasing me.

"In my defense he wasn't the bad guy when I slept with him, he was the 'misunderstood guy' with daddy issues," I tried as I took Steve's jacket off and hung it up.

"Oh, what did you tweet, 'tall, dark and mischief in his eyes'" my dad continued.

"Aren't you supposed to be shocked that your daughter had a one night stand, not tease them?" I asked.

My dad paused and pulled me into a hug, I buried my head into his chest. "If I thought it was a problem then we would be having a different conversation," he began.

"Dad," I began.

"Don't," he cut me off. "It's nothing compared to what I've done in the past. Don't feel embarrassed about the situation."I pulled back and looked up at him. "He's going to use this against us," I said.

My dad nodded and pulled away looking at the screens. "He wants you," he said.

I licked my lips. "You have to know that I would never," I defended.

"Of course," my dad said his head snapping towards me. "That's not what I'm saying."

I shook my head. "Then what are you saying?" I asked.

"I'm saying that if something happens, if we end up losing. Then you use every connection you have to survive," he said.

"Dad," I said. "I can't do that."

"You won't have to, because we are going to win, but if we don't. Stay safe, think about yourself," he repeated.

I opened my mouth to retort when the doors hissed open again and Bruce walked in.

"Dr. Banner!" my dad exclaimed. "Let's play."

* * *

The two of them jumped right in and left me standing to the side. Rolling my eyes I picked up Steve's jacket and walked to the cafeteria.

I picked up an orange and sat in a chair. It was empty and gave me a good place to think about everything that had just happened.

Well that was the plan until Natasha walked in and sat in the chair in front of me.

"So Loki," was all she said for me to set my orange down and groan.

"Seriously?" I asked.

"I'm just trying to figure out if we can use it to our advantage," Natasha said.

"Are any of your one night stands advantageous?" I snapped.

I could see Natasha registering my irritation so I took a calming breath. I needed to calm down and keep a level head or Fury was going to chuck me in a room and leave me there.

"Don't you think if I had anything, anything at all, I would have brought it up?" I asked.

"I'm just trying to understand what would posses you to sleep with that psychopath," Natasha stated. "There must have been some redeeming quality about him."

Anger boiled over as I snapped, slamming my hands on the table. "You know what?" I asked angrily "You have no grounds to judge me for my actions, Black Widow. We all have a past and I have never once brought it up to you, to any of you, like you keep doing to me."

I moved around the table and almost ran smack in Steve who was standingthere, his hands shot out in case I fell. "I'm fine," I snapped as I handed him his jacket.

"Scarlett," I heard Steve say slowly as I headed out of the room. "Wait."

"What?" I asked as I turned around, all of this anger and huffing wasn't good for my condition so I started to cough. It was a wet nasty cough and I noticed pity flash through Steve's eyes as I finished.

"Let me help," Steve said as he noticed me reaching for a napkin.

"I can do it myself," I snapped as I snatched the napkin and left the room.

I tucked into a corner and allowed myself to calm back down and stop coughing. I slipped to the floor and rested my head against the wall.

* * *

I felt someone sit next to me as I turned my head to the side.

"Come to judge my actions?" I asked the god of thunder.

Thor chuckled. "No Lady Clara I haven't," he began. "But I do want to talk about Loki."

Taking a deep breath I released it through my nose. "We met right after I offered to help you," I started my story. "I was in the bar and he came up to me. We talked and then we got onto the topic about dads, my dad, his dad and him being adopted. One thing led to another and we slept together."

"He opened up to you?" Thor asked, curious.

"Well he told me your dad had died, and that clearly wasn't true," I said. "So I don't know how much you can count on the truth of our conversation."

"He cares for you," Thor said.

"I highly doubt that," I commented.

"He does," Thor insisted. "He keeps comparing what you are to him to what Jane is to me. And that means that he would have to care for you."

I felt my heart tug. "Well, it won't matter. Come a month from now I won't be alive for him to care about," I stated.

"You're sick?" Thor asked concern lacing his tone.

I nodded my head. "My lungs are failing as a result of the cancer I have. Once they are completely gone I won't be able to breathe."

Thor didn't reply but the two of us just sat there in the tiny tucked away corner.

Phil walked past the corridor and the backed up to look at us. "There you two are," he said.

"If you're here to judge, take a number and get in line," I said.

Phil sot me a crazy look and then shook his head. "No, Director Fury is looking for you Thor. And your dad wants you back in the lab," he said as he looked at me.

I groaned and I slapped my thighs and stood up, Thor following my actions.

"Back to the command room?" Thor asked. Phil nodded his head in response andThor left, leaving the two of us alone.

* * *

"To the lab?" I asked. "I hope you are getting some extra babysitting money."

"We aren't going to the lab," Phil said as we started walking towards an elevator.

"We aren't?" I asked confused.

"Nope," Phil said. "I want you to talk to Loki."

* * *

 **AN:** **there you guys go! Next chapter is the big one!**


	5. Chapter 4

**Hey y'all!, Sorry this chapter took a little longer than normal, but it was a big chapter and i wanted to make it just right**

 **I don't own Marvel sadly,**

 **As always, Read, Review, and Enjoy!**

* * *

 **Chapter Four**

 **Exactly 2 months and 13 days and 17 hours and 15 minutes since diagnosis**

* * *

"This is a bad idea," I told Phil yet again as he steered me towards the door to the holding chamber. "A really, _really_ bad idea."

"You've said this," Phil said as he turned me around to face him. "But I disagree."

"How did you even get permission?" I asked.

"I didn't," Phil said as he opened the door and pushed me into the room.

I turned around to face Phil and opened my mouth to continue arguing but he shut the door. With a clink I realized that I was stuck on this side, I turned around and walked into the room. The cage appeared in my sight and I saw Loki standing, staring at me.

My heart jumped in my chest as I walked to the opening of the cage, Loki's eyes following me. I dragged a chair up and sat down right in front of the cage.

Loki mirrored my actions and sat on the bench in his cage. I opened my mouth to say something and then closed it again. What did I say? What could I say?

"Words escaping you?" he asked with a smirk.

"You could say that," I responded, I shifted in my chair wishing that I hadn't given Steve back his jacket, I was cold. Scratch that I was on fire, sitting here looking at Loki brought back everything thing I felt when I first met him. The longing of wanting to be apart of something, the belonging of finally meeting someone who felt being an outsider just as much as I did. And the desire, the instant connection I felt as I sat across the bar was reignited. I didn't want Steve's jacket because I was cold, I wanted it because I wanted to hide myself from this.

"Are you worried?" Loki teased. "About saying something that might anger me?"

"Not in the slightest," I responded quickly. "I'm just trying to gauge your mood."

"My mood?" Loki asked."Yeah, you've been a little all over the place since you got here," I explained.

Loki chuckled. "It's nice to see that even dying you haven't changed."

"I'll put it on my headstone."

"For someone so scared about it, you sure sound cavalier."

"I'm just reacting to you, if you want to be a dick, then I'll be one right back. And I'm not."

"Not what?"

"Not scared," I clarified.

Loki laughed as he leaned back and crossed his arms. "That's not what I heard," he countered. "Agent Barton seemed to think that you are terrified to die."

I licked my top lip and pulled it between my teeth. This wasn't what I was expecting, wasn't what I wanted. This should have been the one person who didn't know, who didn't need to know. Who wouldn't look at me like I'm some fragile doll who could drop dead at any moment.

"It's natural," he continued at my silence. "To be afraid of dying."

"I know," I said quietly. Rage coursing through me, I didn't want reassurance of course it was natural to be afraid of dying. Anybody who knew the date was steadily approaching would be terrified.

"I could help you," he added.

"Where did the army come from?" I asked him directing the conversation away from whatever lie he was about to spin about my health. That topic was off limits towards taunts and teases.

"The army?" he asked.

"Yes, the army. Who was dumb enough to supply you with another chance at a throne?" I asked.

I noticed him tense a little but he remained calm.

"Because that's what this is," I continued as I sat forward. "A second chance, because you literally let the one you had slip through your fingers."

"Careful," he warned, his voice low.

"No," I retorted. "You don't get to sit here and mock my fear and then run away from yours." It felt good to mock him, to be in control for a few seconds, to not worry about death and dying and funerals.

"I'm not running away, and it's not a fear," Loki growled as he stood up and walked over to the window-wall.

"Sure it's not," I countered as I stood up and met him next to the window.

I paused staring up at him, trying to figure out who was standing in front of me, because it wasn't the man I met a year ago. His face was harder, the lines more edged. His eyes were bluer too. But there was still that tug, that rush of oxytocin that flooded through me as I continued to stare at him.

While I was staring at him, he was staring right back. Taking in my sunken eyes, my slightly paler complexion. We were both trying to see how we got here. He had lied to me, destroyed a small town, taken Clint away from me, from his actual family and yet here I was. Wishing that things were different. That he had come back just for me, that he wasn't trying to take over the world, that things were different. I hated him for what he was doing, but I still wanted him, I couldn't just turn off my brain to the obvious attraction I had to him. Every moment, every offer, it was a battle to keep my head in charge.

"I can heal you," he whispered.

"You're lying," I whispered right back.

"I'm not," he countered as he put his hand on the glass. "I can heal you."

"What's the catch?" I asked. Knowing from years of dealing in the world I live in that there is always something else.

A slow smile reached his lips. "That you be by my side," he said.

I felt my breath catch as I took a step back from the cage, I shook my head. "I should have known," I said as I turned around to head back out the door. I didn't want to leave, but I felt my heart fighting for control and it was time for me to remove myself from the situation.

I took a couple of steps, beating myself up as I reached the door.

"Wait," he called out.

I froze at hearing his voice.

"Clara," he continued. "You're dying, you have two maybe three days left. You need me and you know it."

I sniffed. My spine straight, I was Scarlett Stark I didn't need anyone, I turned back around to face him. "And you think that I would do that. I would just switch sides that I would abandon the people that I care about. And for what? Some shiny crown?"

"I know you won't," he said. "That's why I'm going to wait 'till the last moment, 'till you are on death's door, or I have already won the earth. Then I will offer."

"And my answer will still be no, I will not stand by your side, not for this," I said.

"You would be my queen," he said. "Every want, every need, every desire, you need only ask."

I walked back up to the glass and took a deep breath. "How do I know you're telling thetruth? That I can trust you?" I asked, needing to know the answer to the question, I need to hear what lies or pretty speech he had for me. _NO_ my head screamed at me forcing me from the rose colored glasses that I had put on. "No, you know what? I don't care, because the answer is no."

There was silence between us as I turned around trying to collect myself.

"You asked why you should trust me," Loki began.

I paused, waiting to hear what the god of lies had spun for me. But I didn't turn back around.

"You should trust me because of all the mortals, of all the beings in this forsaken realm, you are the only one who has turned my head. When I saw you standing there in front of Thor, I knew. I wanted you, not to possess or own but to grow our love and finally find a home for ourselves. Won't you let us have this chance?" He finished.

I clenched my jaw and swallowed. "That's just it," I whispered. "I'm just like everyone else on this planet."

"Not to me," Loki countered.

I relaxed my shoulders, my armor melting at hearing those words, and turned back around to face him and for a moment he looked like the Loki I knew, the Loki I wanted to be here. "I'm going to die, if not in a few days, then in a couple of decades. Whatever the time length, it's nothing compared to yours. And then what? Find another girl who will let you continue your tyranny?"

"You will be my queen," Loki repeated. "Only you."

"I will not stand by a king who wears his crown studded with jewels of every human life he took," I snapped. My chest heaving from my outburst, as I thought about what he was proposing, what he was asking me to do.

Loki straightened himself and took a half step away from the glass. I watched as he pulled on a blank face. This conversation was over. I was being dismissed.

I turned my head to the left and took a deep breath, slowly exhaling.

"You are still thinking this way because you have hope, hope that your team might win," Loki said, all emotion drained from his tone. "But your opinion will change, in time."

My head snapped up to meet his gaze. "That's the thing about Starks, we're known for our stubbornness," I said before turning and walking out of the room not sparing another glance towards him.

* * *

The door hissed opened and I saw Phil standing right outside the door. I took a step over the threshold and felt the wind from the closing door blow my hair a bit.

"Did you get what you wanted?" I asked harshly.

"I did," Phil said as we started walking back towards the lab.

I was angry at him for putting me in that situation. I was angry at myself because I stillfelt that tug of attraction towards Loki. And I was angry that I was dying and that he was the only one who could help me.

We had made it back to the lab without me noticing in my anger. I took a step in and walked over to my tiny area.

"How'd it go?" I heard my dad's voice.

"You were right," Phil said.

I looked up at the two of them and noticed that they seemed relieved, my dad nodded his head and shook Phil's hand before Phil turned to leave.

"Scarlett," Phil said. "You should take the deal."

I opened my mouth to reply but he had stepped through and walked away.

I looked up at my dad who walked over and sat next to me.

"You promised," was all he said.

I looked away from him as tears welled up and I tried to blink them away. I felt my father's arms pulling me back to him and I turned into him, my arms wrapping around his chest as I rested my face on his shoulder. My dad squeezed me back and the two of us sat there.

"I can't," I whispered. "Dad I can't do it."

"I know sweetheart," he said kissing the top of my head. "I know."

* * *

Our moment had passed and my dad was back at it again with his new best friend. I kept an eye on him while I finished up the final paperwork I needed to do. Loki said two to three days and somehow I felt that he was telling the truth. So I swallowed my fear and finished what needed to be done.

I sat my tablet down and walked over to them, "I'm going to get a bite to eat more coffee?" I asked.

Bruce looked at me and nodded while my dad just continued to type away at his computer so I rolled my eyes and turned to his bag of stuff, I picked up his first bag of snacks sitting on the pile. I opened it and popped a blueberry in my mouth before tossing one at his head. He looked up at me offended. "That was a waste of a blueberry," he said.

I tossed another one, which he caught in his mouth. "Coffee?" I asked.

He nodded his head while he chewed the blueberry. I sat the bag down and made my way out of the lab and down the hall.

* * *

My phone started to vibrate so I pulled it out of my pocket.

My heart leaped as I saw Pepper's name across the screen.

I answered it. "Hi Mom," I said as I looked around and slipped into an empty room."So was the sex at least good?" I heard her voice ask.

There was a pause and then I started laughing. I leaned my head back against the wall and let out a deep laugh. Something I hadn't done in months. "Yes," I managed to answer as I calmed myself back down. "Yes, it was."

"Well, that's all that matters," she told me.

I smiled as I slid down the floor. "I shouldn't have come," I confessed.

"You are exactly where you are needed," Pepper corrected me. "Everyone there needs you in some way."

"Thanks Mom," I whispered. "I love you."

"I love you too," she replied instantly.

I didn't want to hang up because hanging up meant that we were done talking. Hanging up meant that I might never get to talk to her again.

"How did you know to call?" I asked.

"Your father texted me earlier," Pepper explained. "He's been keeping me caught on up the situation. About thirty seconds ago he texted that I needed to talk to you."

My heart lurched. "I don't want to die," I blurted out. I choked out the last word, terrified about what that meant now that I've confessed.

"Go on," I heard her voice urge me.

"It's not fair," I whispered. "We're finally good, he's trying. I don't—" I hiccupped and took a deep breath, releasing slowly through my nose.

"I know, baby," Pepper comforted me through the phone.

"And he said he could heal me," I told her. "And I want it, Pepper. I want that chance to live so badly but I can't turn my back on my family, I can't do it, Mom."

"You have always been so stubborn," Pepper began. "I remember nights where you would cry for your mom until you were sick because your father didn't do the voices right. And they had to be right every time."

I gave a breathless laugh. "And now I want nothing more than terrible stories with him."

"I still like him," I told Pepper, it was the first time I had admitted it, even to myself. "I still feel my cheeks blush when he stares at me."

"First loves have a way of doing that," Pepper comforted. "I know, it's just one night, blah, blah, blah, but just hearing the story from your dad I can tell that had the situation been different you two could have had something."

"No judgment?" I asked.

"Every girl wants someone who gets them," Pepper said. "And you found that, he just happens to be an evil Asgardian prince."

The two of us broke down into chuckles.

There was a knock on the door and I glanced up at the knob. "I've gotta go, Mom," I said."I love you, Scarlett," Pepper said, her tone suddenly changing. "So much."

"I love you too mom, and thank you" I whispered as I pulled the phone away from my ear and pressed end.

I stood up and gave myself two seconds to slide my mask back on as I opened the door. I was shocked to see Steve there.

* * *

"Steve?" I asked.

"Um," he stammered his cheeks turning red. "I thought this room was empty."

"Oh," I exclaimed looking out of the room, my cheeks blushing at my assumption that he was there for me. "Yes, I was just leaving and this room is completely empty."

Steve nodded his head. "Thanks," he said.

I stepped out of the room and Steve stepped in, the two of us switching places. "Well, um," I said. "Have fun?"

"Scarlett," Steve called before pausing. "Is everything okay?"

I gave him a quick smile before dropping it. "No, but there is absolutely nothing I can do for me, so for right now, yes, everything is fine."

Steve stared at me for a moment."Are you okay?" I asked hesitantly, not sure if Steve wanted me to know but I felt like I should have asked.

"I am," Steve said. "I just need a moment to breathe, it's a bit of an adjustment."

"What, you didn't fight aliens in the 40's?" I asked with a sly smile.

Steve chuckled. "Can't say that I did."

"Steve," I offered with a small smile. He looked me in the eyes his attention was fully on me and what I might say. "If it helps, Loki is just another man who thinks he's better than everyone else, and that we deserve him as a leader."

"It does, thank you," he said.

"I'll leave you alone," I said as I turned to head to the cafeteria.

* * *

I wandered into the cafeteria, marveling at how yet again it was empty, an entire hellicarrier and no one was hungry? I turned the coffee machine on as the delicious aroma of coffee beans filled the room.

I hopped up on the counter next to the machine and fiddled with my phone. I clicked Peter's name and called him. It rang twice and was sent to voicemail. I pulled it away from my ear. I sent him a text explaining the situation, telling him that I was sorry, and that I loved him. That I thought that this fight was going to go to New York and he needed to be prepared.

Pressing send I sat the phone on the counter and leaned my head against the cabinets and closed my eyes. I was tired and worn out from the emotional highs and lows I had experienced. I wanted a nap, to curl up in seven blankets and fall machine beeped and I hopped down to start fixing the cups for each of the scientists. Turning around I saw Natasha standing there. "Can I help you?" I asked. Each one of my hands wrapped around the handle of each mug.

Natasha didn't answer but she looked me over, her steel eyes assessing me. "You were right," she said.

It was my turn to not answer. This was as close to an apology as I was going to get so I nodded my head and walked out of the cafeteria.

I stepped into the lab was shocked to see that Steve was there.

"What's up?" I asked as I handed Bruce his mug. I glanced at Bruce who just shook his head.

"Daughter," my dad exclaimed as he took the second mug from me. "Should we trust Fury?"

"Um," I thought about it for a second. "In what aspect, because I trust that he wants the Tesseract back," I noticed Steve stand a little straighter. "However, he is straight up lying to us about why they had it in the first place."

"You really think he is lying to us?" Steve asked.

I nodded my head. "Fury's a spy not a soldier. That difference is important to remember especially in a situation like this. Stark Industries is the only name in clean energy, so why would an intelligence agency be in that game in the first place, and second, he only called us in after it was taken, which means that he knew we wouldn't help while they had it. We're the cleanup crew for his messy mistake," I explained.

"See," my dad exclaimed. "Everyone is bugged by this."

"Dad," I said softly. It wasn't in Steve's nature to take everything with a grain of salt. He hadn't grown up in this world, experienced the betrayal that we had.

"Which is why you're trying to break into S.H.I.E.L.D.'s files?" Steve asked.

"You're what?" I asked turning my head to him.

My dad scoffed. "Like you haven't," he countered.

I shrugged my shoulders; I have and technically still could with how I set Agent Ford.

"Unfortunately," I said looking between them. "It doesn't really matter why S.H.I.E.L.D. had it; we have to get it back."

"Exactly," Steve agreed.

My dad shook his head as he went back to the screen. "We can't afford to think like that," he countered. "An intelligence agency that fears intelligence, historically not possible."

I pinched the bridge of my nose and closed my eyes at these two antics.

"Scarlett's right," Steve said. "We don't need to worry about that. I think Loki's trying to wind us up. This is a man who means to start a war and if we don't stay focused, he'll succeed. We have orders, we should follow them."

"Following is not really my style," my dad quipped.

"Oh my god," I whispered under my breath as I opened my eyes and moved my hand from my nose. "Listen guys."

"And you're all about style," Steve countered.

"Of the people in this room, which one is; A. wearing a spangley outfit, and B. not of use?" my dad asked.

"Enough!" I snapped. "Clearly we have different opinions on the matter. We are going to respect them and what we aren't going to do is hurl insults at each other. The program is running as long as that is the number one priority then you guys can look into the why, okay?"

Bruce mouthed a silent "thank you" and my dad begrudgingly nodded his head. I looked over at Steve who I assumed would be all for this plan but didn't say anything.

I raised an eyebrow at him, showing him that he needed to play nice with others.

"Just find the cube," he said as he turned and stormed out of the lab.

"Steve," I called out but it was too late, the doors had already hissed shut.

"That's the guy my dad never shut up about?" my dad asked as another failed message popped up on the screen. "Wondering if they should have kept him on ice."

"Seriously?" I asked. "Are you kidding me?"

I had to give my dad a little bit. He at least had the decency to look a little abashed.

I shook my head and huffed as I walked over to the table and wrote down Agent Ford's login info and pushed it to my dad, making sure to hit him as hard as I could in the chest.

"Ow," he said taking the paper.

"I need you to play nice until we get the Tesseract back ok?" I said as he took the piece of paper from me.

He didn't say anything as he read what I had written. He chuckled and turned to start typing. "Whatever you say, daughter."

I took that as the best I was going to get and made my way out to find Steve and try to calm him back down.

* * *

I was here to soothe egos and that was what I was going to do, until I dropped dead. Literally.

* * *

"Steve," I whispered called for him again. I had no clue to where my spangley solider had stormed off to. "Steve!"

I felt a hand grab my upper arm and gently tug me to the side. I looked up in shock and then relaxed. There was Steve looking back and forth for someone else.

"What's going on?" I asked.

"Your dad is right," Steve admitted. "Something is up."

I shook my head. "And instead of agreeing in the lab you decided to just storm off?" I asked confused.

"He called me spangley," Steve offered.

A smile broke across my face. "Well I mean," I trailed off.

Steve looked at me in mock horror. "Not you too," he declared.

"I could say patriotic?" I offered. "But come on what's with all the zippers?" I asked as I playing with one of the ones on his thigh.

Steve chuckled. "Agent Coulson designed it," he replied.

"Then they are very practical," I corrected myself. "We could put band aids in one."

"Come on," Steve said taking my hand as he led me to where he was originally going.

"Breaking and entering?" I asked as Steve moved the door form the hinge so I could slip in, he followed closing it behind me. "Captain Rogers that's against the law."

Steve shook his head at my antics as he climbed up on a couple of cases and jumped to the next platform.

"Uh, I'll just stay down here," I said knowing that there was no way in hell I could do that. "Stand guard."

Steve winced and then nodded his head before taking off for what he was looking for.

I sat on top of a crate as I started looking through my phone and noticed Peter had texted me back.

 _You know I'll always love you too, I'm ready and Gwen is safe_.

I felt my lip twitch as I typed my reply.

 _Does that mean I'm forgiven? And what about Harry?_

I heard something fall to the ground so my head shot up towards the general direction I thought the sound had come from. "Steve?" I asked.

No answer.

I stood up on the crate in attempt to get another look. "Steve?" I asked again.

His footsteps were heavier, angrier but he made his way back to me, something in his hands. He jumped down as I scrambled off the crate and headed towards him.

"What is the biggest reason you think that Fury's lying to us?" Steve asked.

"What?" I asked.

"The reason, Scarlett," he nearly snapped.

My body jolted at his tone. "Uh, when you brought up Hydra Fury said he didn't know about the weapons. But S.H.I.E.L.D. was built to prevent things like Hydra ever happening again. I can't imagine a director not knowing about them," I hurriedly explained.

Steve scoffed as he dropped a gun onto the crate, I jumped at the noise but I glanced at the gun he had placed.

"Holy shit," I breathed out as I traced the Hydra symbol printed on it.

Steve quickly grabbed it and started walking towards the door.

"What are you going to do?" I asked as my short legs tried to keep up with his angry strides.

Luckily Steve remembered I was still there and held the door open so I could get back out. "I'm going to go find Fury," he said as he headed down a hallway.

I closed my eyes and hung my head, finding the inner strength as I made my way after him; afraid of what he would to the man once he found him.


	6. Chapter 5

**Hey guys! Another chapter up! Hope everyone who had Spring Break, enjoyed it and was safe!**

 **I don't own Marvel.**

 **As always Read, Review, and Enjoy!**

* * *

 **Chapter Five**

 **Exactly 2 months and 13 days and 18 hours since diagnosis**

* * *

"This is not good," I grumbled my new catchphrase as we turned the corner to the lab. I already saw Fury in there.

"Oh, it's really not good," I whispered as the lab door slid open and Steve strode in and threw the gun on the table.

"Phase 2 is S.H.I.E.L.D. uses the cube to make weapons." Steve said before turning to face Tony. "Sorry, the computer was moving a little slow."

I couldn't help the feeling of pride flood through me at seeing him stand up for himself.

Fury turned towards Steve as I slid out of the way so they could continue the conversation without me.

"Rogers," Fury began with a step towards him. "We gathered everything related to the Tesseract, this does not mean that we're-"

"I'm sorry Nick," my dad interrupted the two of them to show the screen which showed the data that this was exactly the plan. "What, were you lying?"

I glanced at the screen and took in what S.H.I.E.L.D. was planning, a nuclear weapon. Fear shot through me as I thought just how close S.H.I.E.L.D. was to becoming a superpower.

"I was wrong, director," Steve said glancing at the screen. "The world hasn't changed."

I glanced to the left as I saw Thor and Natasha walk in.

"Did you know about this?" Bruce asked angrily. I noticed the tension in his tone and I wasn't the only one. I was curious to hear Natasha's answer; did she know that S.H.I.E.L.D. was close to having the power to wipe countries off the map?

"You want think about removing yourself from this environment?" Natasha asked Bruce. My head nodded, I couldn't tell if she actually knew. But at this point Natasha didn't care.

"I was in Calcutta, I was pretty well removed," Bruce said.

"Bruce doesn't need to leave," I defended him. "He's fine right here."

"Loki's been manipulating you," Natasha said."And you've been doing what exactly?" Bruce questioned.

"You didn't come here because I batted my eyelashes at you," Natasha countered.

"Correct, I came here because Scarlett asked me to and I'm not leaving because suddenly you get a little twitchy. I'd like to know why S.H.I.E.L.D. is using the Tesseract to build weapons of mass destruction." Bruce yelled.

We all stopped and stared at Nick. "Because of him," he finally answered pointing at Thor.

"Me?" Thor questioned looking at me and I could only shrug my shoulders in response. I didn't know what Fury was getting at; Thor helped us in New Mexico.

"Last year Earth had a visitor from another planet who had a grudge match that leveled a small town. And your response was to sleep with him," he shot at me. I bit my bottom lip and turned my head away, my cheeks blushing. "We learned that not only are we not alone, but we are hopelessly, hilariously, outgunned."

"Have care of have you speak towards Lady Stark," Thor warned. "And my people want nothing but peace."

"But you're not the only people out there, are you? And, you're not the only threat. The world's filling up with people who can't be matched, they can't be controlled," Fury tried explaining to us.

"Like you controlled the cube," Steve asked.

"You're work with the Tesseract is what drew Loki to it, and his allies. It is the signal to all the realms that the earth is ready for a higher form of war." Thor explained.

"A higher form?" Steve asked.

"You forced our hand. We had to come up with something," Fury defended.

"A nuclear deterrent?" I snapped. "Because that always calms everything down."

"Remind me how you two made your fortune?" Fury asked."Buy creating an actual viable source of clean energy and developing a self sustaining skyscraper." I snapped.

My dad started laughing as he snapped his fingers and pointed at me.

"I'm sure if he still made weapons, Stark would be neck deep in this," Steve acidly added.

"And you would be what?" I snapped, my anger rising. Sure I didn't agree with making weapons but Steve didn't have right to throw that in our faces. "Standing behind the weapon waiting for the order to shoot?"

"How is this suddenly all about us?" my dad asked taking a step closer to me.

"I'm sorry, isn't everything?" Steve asked.

"I thought humans were more evolved than this?" Thor asked looking at us.

"Excuse me, did we come to your planet and blow things up?" Fury asked the god.

"You treat your heroes with such mistrust," Thor commented.

"Are you all really that naive? S.H.I.E.L.D monitors potential threats," Natasha asked us.

"Captain America is on the watch list?" Bruce asked.

"You all are," I spoke up, my voice breaking, I cleared my throat. "Every single person in here is a potential threat to what reality S.H.I.E.L.D. has crafted."

My dad snorted. "Are you on that list?" he asked Steve. "Are you above or below angry bees?"

"You know what Stark," Steve threatened as he took another step closer towards my dad.

"Threatening," my dad yelled, he glanced over at me. I noticed concern laced in his gaze. "I feel threatened."I started to feel a little dizzy so I walked over to my little workstation and sat on the chair as I put my face in my hands, taking a few controlled deep breaths, I looked back up at the group.

"You speak of control yet you court chaos." Thor said.

"It's his MO isn't it? I mean, what are we, a team? No, no, no. We're a chemical mixture that makes chaos. We're... we're a time-bomb." Bruce said as he walked closer to the table with the specter, his voice barely hiding his anger.

"You need to step away," Nick warned the doctor.

My dad threw his arm around Steve's shoulders. "Why shouldn't the guy let off a little steam?" he asked.

Steve slapped his arm off of him. "You know damn well why, back off," he growled.

"Stop it," I whispered looking between everyone. This wasn't helping, this wasn't going to solve anything.

My dad spun around and stepped up to Steve. "I'm starting to want you to make me," he threatened.

"Big man in a suit of armor, take that off what are you?" Steve mocked.

"Father, genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist," my dad quipped.

I felt my heart swell at hearing him say he was a father, not just that he put it first. I took a step back towards the group, pushing through the head rush that was going on.

"The only thing you really fight for is yourself. You're not the guy to make the sacrifice play, to lay down on a wire and let the other guy crawl over you." Steve said shooting insults at my dad.

"Enough," I called out, my voice getting stronger.

"I think I would just cut the wire," my dad fired back.

"Always a way out," Steve scoffed. "You know, you may not be a threat, but you better stop pretending to be a hero."

"A hero? Like you? You're a lab rat, Rogers." My dad spat. "Everything special about you came out of a bottle!"

"I said, enough!" I yelled as I pounded my fist against the table. Silence fell through out the room as I took another deep breath. "Earth's mightiest heroes," I spat looking at each one of them. "And you can't spend one day without pitting your egos against each other."

"Ms. Stark," Fury said as he took a step closer towards me.

"No!" I said pointing a finger towards him. "This is your mess and we are here to clean it up. This, this team that you assembled is still here despite all of your lies, so no, you don't get to say anything."

I couldn't make out the response because my heart was pounding so loud, my pulse started pounding in my ears.

"Yeah" Bruce said as I focused on him, I squinted to try and make his figure out. "This is a team"

"Agent Romanoff, would you escort Dr. Banner back to his-" Fury began.

"Where?" Bruce questioned, "You rented my room."

"The cell was just in case-" Fury tried to justify.

"In case you needed to kill me, but you can't I know, I've tried," Bruce informed.

I blinked as everyone started to blur, my breath was getting shallower and I felt like I couldn't breathe. "Dr. Banner," I whispered.

He was talking but I couldn't focus on the words, this was the first time I had gotten worked up since I found out I had cancer. The first time I had got my heart rate up. And I couldn't calm myself back down. It felt like a panic attack but an elevated one.

I started to try and sit down but I couldn't find the chair. I turned around trying to find the seat I was sitting in before. It had gotten really hot in here and I could feel a trail of sweat drip down my face.

"Dr. Banner," I wheezed, trying to get an actual breath in.

There was a loud beeping and I snapped my head towards the sound, I felt my knees buckle and I grabbed the table to try and remain standing. I reached up to wipe my sweat from my face. I stood back up and found my balance, I glanced down at the table, hoping that just focusing on a spot on the table would refocus my vision, but I noticed that whatever I had wiped off of my face wasn't sweat, it was red.

"Dr. Banner," my gasp turned into a wheeze, this wasn't good. Whatever was happening to me was bad, very bad."Scarlett?" I felt a hand on my arm, it was soft and cool against my hot skin.

I tried to focus on who had my arm, but I couldn't make out who it was. I squeezed my eyes shut and then opened again, hoping that it would help.

"Scarlett," I heard, it kinda sounded like my dad, but there was a different edge to it, it wasn't his normal tone of even his tone of when the two of us were talking by ourselves.

I took a deep breath that sounded like a wheeze to me. "Dad," I squeaked as my knees buckled. I was ready to feel them hit the ground, ready to feel the cold ground and the sting of the tile. What I wasn't ready for was a blast that sent me flying back. Something broke and I kept falling, gray was all I could see. When I landed a sharp pain shot through my stomach. I cried out and tried to move, but my arms were heavy and there was darkness creeping into my vision. I tried one last time to move any part of my body and was tugged into darkness because of my efforts.

* * *

Pain was the first thing that I registered, which was par for the course as of late. But this pain was different. I pushed myself up from the ground and rolled over, my chest heaving from the effort. After catching my breath I pulled myself up to a sitting position, glancing down I finally saw where the pain was coming from.

There was a piece of glass that had lodged itself in my stomach. Whimpering, I went to touch it, but immediately stopped once my fingers had grazed it.

Surveying the scene, I saw that Natasha and Bruce had also made the trip down with me. "Natasha," I whimpered. She stirred and soon pushed herself up. She slipped her foot from under a pipe with ease as she carefully stepped over Bruce.

"Scarlett," she said softly.

"I know," I said as tears finally spilled over. "Turns out the cancer's not going to be the thing that kills me."

"You're not going to die," she snapped at me. She had said it with such conviction that I almost believed her.

Bruce had started to move, groaning. Our attention snapped to him.

"You have to get Big Bird back," I pleaded grabbing Natasha's hand. "The baby birds need him.""Shh," Natasha said trying to calm me down, but it was too late. And I knew it.

"Promise me," I whispered.

Natasha stared at me, and that's when it hit, the tears and shortness of breath. "Tell my dad I love him," I whispered.

Bruce had convulsed on the floor, his groan turning more into a growl.

"Run," I gasped out with a squeeze of her hand.

She returned the squeeze and took off.

I took a deep breath as I tried to stable myself. Natasha was going to need as much time as I could give her.

"Bruce," I called out weakly. I wasn't going to last much longer, the blast might have bought me a few more seconds, but what was happening in the lab had resumed. I was dying.

Bruce's eyes snapped over to me, but they weren't those kind brown eyes.

"Shit," I swore."Hey big guy," I said my voice shaky. "Remember me?"

There was no answer either way and I took that as a good sign. "Listen, I know that Bruce is hurt and you're protecting him," I began trying to get everything out. "But I need a doctor," begging as I motioned with my hand to the piece of glass.

Bruce growled at looked at me. "Please," I begged, tears falling.

There was no answer and I took it as a sign of defeat, I closed my eyes and laid my head against the back of the wall.

Warmth reached my hand and I opened my eyes to see Bruce's kind brown eyes staring back at me. I let out a gargled sob and the warmth on my hand squeezed.

"If we pull it out," he informed, "you'll start to bleed out." His fingers grazed the piece of glass and I flinched away, hissing from the movement. "Your best hope is to leave it in."

"I'd never make it through surgery," I said. "We both know that the cancer has reached its final stage."

Bruce didn't say anything. So I made the decision. "Go," I said. "My room is on the third floor, lock yourself in there."

Bruce looked at me, the hesitation clear in his eyes.

And I wanted him to stay, oh how desperately I wanted someone else here with me. But I had promised that I was going to make sure he was okay. "You need to be somewhere safe," I whispered.

Bruce nodded. "The Hulk," I whispered, not able to put any more effort in what I was saying. "He's a part of you. Accept it."

Bruce scoffed. "I'll just have to keep close to you guys, so you can talk him down."

I gave him a twitch of a smile and one painful laugh. "Nonsense," I squeaked. "You just need to sing him a lullaby."

One last squeeze of my hands and a chaste kiss on my forehead, and he was gone.

And I was alone.

I couldn't make myself open my eyes, knowing you're alone and seeing it are two different things, and very important in my situation at least. This was my decision, I didn't want to die, I especially didn't want to die this way. But living, living as I had been, I didn't want to do that either. I gritted my teeth as I gripped the piece of glass in my fist.

I was full on sobbing now. "I'm sorry," I said out loud, there was no one to hear me, but I needed to say it. Because I was, I was so sorry. Sorry for letting everyone down: my dad, my mom, Peter, Clint, my entire family was counting on me to be strong, to keep fighting.

The glass had cut my palm as blood oozed out of the spaces between my fingers. I took a deep breath, _count to three_ I heard my dad's voice in my head _one, two, three_.On three I yanked the piece out of my stomach. I yelled and bit my lip from anymore sound escaping.

I felt my body relaxed, my thoughts went to Steve. Steve and that smile he would get when he finally got something I'd explained. From him to Peter, my best friend in the whole world. I'll never get to see him again. The last conversation was a text message.

My blood was warm as it flowed out onto my hands.

I was tired, tired from everything, tired from fighting, tired from living. So I let the tiredness win. It was like falling asleep, the pain wasn't anything more than what I had been in for a couple of weeks. In fact it was numbing as I kept sitting there. Finally it was time, everything floated away as I took another breath. And fell asleep.

* * *

 **AN: Oh NO!**


	7. Chapter 6

**Here's the next chapter!**

 **As Always, Read, Review, and Enjoy!**

* * *

 **Chapter 6**

* * *

Tony, Steve, and Bruce all sat around the table in the command room; no one speaking, no one daring to look at each other.

Loki had made a mockery out of them, had pulled them apart using nothing more than their egos; Scarlett had been right.

Fury walked into the command room and threw bloodied cards onto the table. "These were in Phil Coulson's jacket," he said. "I guess he never did get you to sign them."

Steve picked up the cards, another reminder of everything, everyone they had lost in battle.

"We're dead in the air up here," Fury said. "Our communication, the cube, Thor. I got nothing for you. Lost my one good eye and the pain in my ass. Maybe I had that coming."

Tony clenched the tablet he had in his hands as Fury continued his speech. He didn't need another reminder of what they had lost other than what he held in his hands.

"Yes, we were going to build an arsenal with the Tesseract. I never put all my chips on that number though, because I was playing something even riskier," Fury continued. "There was an idea, Stark knows this, called the Avengers Initiative. The idea was to bring together a group of remarkable people, see if they could become something more. See if they could work together when we needed them to fight the battles that we never could. Phil Coulson died still believing in that idea, in heroes."

Tony stood up. Phil Coulson might have died believing in heroes, but Scarlett Stark died still hating the idea. He walked out of the command room and made his way back to the room Loki was held in.

He felt sick, he felt lost. His daughter, his _daughter_ had died. Bruce had found him and Steve after they had fixed the engine to deliver the news.

He took off, needing to see her, to be with his baby girl. But it was too late, she was gone.

Tony had felt a rage he had never known before, storming through the building until he managed to find someone who could give him access to the cameras. Watching his daughter's last breaths, her apology to no one.

And then he strolled in, in his green. He had squatted close to her, waved his hand and scooped her up. And just like that she was gone.

Tony wanted to believe that she was going to be okay, that somehow despite all of this shit, she was going to be okay.

But Tony wasn't in the habit of placing hope in magic and wants.

* * *

Clint lay in bed, wrists strapped down. He was at war with himself, trying to get control back from Loki but still feeling that pull to get his next set of orders.

"Clint, you're going to be alright," he heard a voice call to him.

 _Natasha,_ he thought, _it's Natasha, you're safe_. He chanted this over and over as his thoughts cleared.

"You know that," he gritted out, "is that what you know?"

Natasha looked at her partner but kept her mouth shut.

"I gotta flush him out," he gasped as he leaned his head on the back of the medical bed.

"It's gonna take time," Natasha commented getting up to grab him a cup of water.

"You don't understand," Clint moaned. "Have you ever had someone take your brain and play? Pull you out and send something else in? Do you know what it's like to be unmade?" he asked gasping.

Natasha handed Clint the cup as she unbuckled his wrist cuffs. "You know I do," she whispered.

The two assassins settled into silence as Clint started to stretch. "How did get him out?" Clint finally ventured to ask.

"Cognitive recalibration," Natasha said with a smirk of her lips. "I hit you really hard in the head."

Clint left out a humorless chuckle, before he settled back down. "How many agents-"

"Don't." Natasha snapped, "Don't do this to yourself Clint. This is monsters and magic and nothing we were ever trained for."

Clint sighed as he tried to hear his partner's words before he remembered his mission. "Loki," he began, his entire posture straightening back up. "He was after Tweety, Tasha."

"Shh," she soothed as he squeezed her hand. "Clint, Scarlett, she-" Natasha stopped. "She got hurt in the blast and she, she died."

"Fuck." Clint swore as he stood up Natasha put her hand on his chest and slowly pushed him back on the bed.

"Loki took her," she whispered.

Clint's head snapped up. "What?" he exclaimed.

"Loki took her," she repeated. "And I don't know what he is doing with her, but he was obsessed, kept saying he could heal her."

"You think he could bring her back from the dead?" Clint asked, skepticism in his tone.

"I don't know," Natasha confessed. "I don't know, but its," she trailed off.

"We need to stop him," she finally picked back up.

"Oh yeah?" Clint asked. "Who's _we_?"

"Anyone who's left," she replied.

"Well, if I put an arrow in Loki's eye socket I'd feel better I suppose," Clint said groaning. "Plus, we need to get her back."

"Now you sound like you," Natasha said with small grin as she sat next to her partner.

"But you don't," Clint shot back. "You're a spy not a solider. Now you want to wade into a war. Why? What did Loki do to you?"

Natasha fidgeted and licked her bottom lip. "He didn't, I just," she paused again as she tried hard to express everything yet remain in control. Scarlett was dying and she saved her, without her there, Natasha didn't know what would have happened. "I've been compromised, I got red in my ledger and I'd like to wipe some out."

* * *

"Was he married?" Steve asked as he approached Tony.

"No, there was a cellist, I think," Tony said

"Does Scarlett have anyone?" Steve asked.

Tony stiffened. "No," he replied shortly.

"I'm sorry," Steve said before pausing again, how did he mention her? How could he begin to talk about how much he missed his only friend to her father? "She was great, with helping me and everything that she's done for Bruce." He offered trying to help him.

Tony turned to face Steve and then walked past him, not answering.

"Is this the first time you've lost a solider?" Steve asked.

"We are not soldiers." Tony snapped, "My daughter was not a _soldier_!"

Steve opened his mouth to respond but closed it.

"I'm not marching to Fury's fife," tony explained.

"Neither am I!" Steve defended. "He's got the same blood on his hands as Loki does. Right now we've got to put that aside and get this done. Now Loki needs a power source, if we can put together a list-"

Tony looked at the stain that was Phil Coulson's blood while Steve spoke. "He made it personal," he murmured, interrupting Steve.

Steve took a small breath. "That's not the point," he argued.

"That is the point," Tony countered. "That's been Loki's point. He hit us right where we live. Why?"

"To tear us apart," Steve said remembering what Scarlett had told him.

"Yeah, divide and conquer is great but he knows he has to take us out to win, right?" Tony talked out. "That's what he wants. He wants to beat us and he wants to be seen doing it. He wants an audience."

"Right, I caught his act at Stuttegart," Steve agreed.

"Yeah. That's just a preview, this is opening night. Loki's a full-tilt diva. He wants flowers, he wants parades, he wants someone there to cheer his name when he succeeds. He wants a monument built in the skies with his name plastered-" Tony stopped as the answer came to him. He knew the place where he Loki was going to make his kingdom, exactly where his "queen" was from.

"Sonofabitch," Tony swore as he ran past Steve.

"Tony?" he called out as Tony walked down the hallway.

Tony ignored him as he pulled out his phone. "Underoos," he said as soon as the person picked up. "I need your help."

* * *

Loki knelt down and pushed a lock of hair off of Scarlett's face. She was so pale. He felt a growl erupt from his chest. This was not his plan. His queen should have never had gone through this. She was supposed to be delivered safely to his side and instead he had to find her, with only a breath of life left in her chest. If everything had gone according to his plan, she would have been healed already. Standing by his side, his queen.

He heard the sounds that belonged to the Iron Man suit and turned around to face him.

Tony landed on the platform, his gaze fully locked on the scene playing out in the living room. The system stripped away the pieces of his dented armor.

"Please tell me that you've come to appeal to my humanity," Loki taunted.

"Actually I've come to threaten you," Tony said as walked past Loki and over to his daughter. He dropped to his knees and caressed her face.

"She's still breathing," he muttered, looking at his daughter. He glanced over his shoulder and slipped something into her ear and moved her hair back over it.

"You should have left your armor for that," Loki taunted.

"Seen a bit of mileage," Tony said as he placed a kiss on her forehead. "Be safe," he whispered. "You know with the glow stick of destiny." he continued.

Tony stood up and walked over to the bar, "do you want a drink?" he asked.

"Stalling me won't change anything," Loki said as he glanced over at Scarlett and moved to the bar.

"No, no, _threatening_ ," Tony corrected as he settled behind his bar. "No drink, you sure? I'm having one"

"The Chitauri are coming, soon my queen will arise stronger than ever. What do I have to fear?" Loki asked.

"The Avengers," Tony replied before downing his drink to quench his anger at hearing this man claim his daughter. "It's what we call ourselves, sort of like a team, Earth's mightiest heroes, type of thing."

"I've met them," Loki taunted.

"Yeah," Tony huffed as he placed his bracelet cuffs on the bar. "Takes us a while to get any traction, I'll give you that one," he began as he walked around the bar. "But, let's do a head count here. Your brother, the demi-God; a super soldier, a living legend who kind of lives up to the legend; a man with breath-taking anger management issues; a couple of master assassins, and you, big fella, you've managed to piss off every single one of them."

"That was the plan," Loki stated.

"Not a great plan," Tony quipped. "Because it just goes to show how little you know about us, well that and the fact you think that my daughter would ever choose you over her family."

"She will," Loki protested.

"When they come, and they will, they will come for you," Tony threatened. "And you can be damn sure my daughter will be on our side."

Loki took a step towards Tony. "I have an army," he growled.

"We have a Hulk," Tony threw right back.

"The beast couldn't pick a side to save the doctor's life," Loki sneered.

Tony just shook his head, how wrong this God was. As soon as the fighting had stopped, Tony went looking for Scarlett, his search had found Dr. Banner instead and he told Tony everything. How she had calmed the Hulk and promised to look out for Bruce. The Hulk was ready to fight to get Bruce's protector back. "You're missing the point. There's no throne, there is no version of this, where you come out on top. Maybe your army comes and maybe it's too much for us, but it's all on you. Because if we can't protect the Earth, you can be damned well sure we'll avenge it." He threatened.

"And what of your daughter," Loki said as he glanced back to where Scarlett was healing.

Tony gritted his teeth and felt his hands clench into a fist.

"All of you dead, your pitiful attempts amounted to nothing. And what of her?" he questioned again. "I'll tell you what of her. She will be mine, I will have her by my side, my queen. My-"

Tony turned and punched Loki in the jaw. Loki's head snapped a little as Tony turned around and grabbed his hand in pain.

Loki growled and grabbed tony by the throat. "You are all beneath me," he growled as they walked towards the windows.

"Jarvis," Tony gasped out. "Deploy."

And with those words, Loki threw Tony out of the window. He turned around and glanced at his queen. "And so begins the war," he growled as he walked out to survey the army that started to come from the wormhole.

* * *

Spiderman crawled through the vents of the Stark Tower. He heard the fight between Mr. Stark and the crazy guy dressed in green and black. He counted the tiles. _One, two, three, four,_ he said before sliding the tile to the right. He peeked and found who he was looking for. Scarlett Stark laid on the couch, her face pale and her body unmoving.

"In position," he whispered.

"Right," Tony's voice came through the earpiece he was wearing. "I got Scar's in place."

"Stark, we're heading north east," Black Widow's voice came through.

"What? Did you stop for drive thru?" Tony asked. "Underoos, stay there and the moment she's awake grab her and get to where I told you."

"Copy," Spiderman said, "or is it roger that? I can never figure out which one to use."

"Actually, it's wilco," Captain America's voice said.

"Roger wilco," Spiderman said as he dropped down from the ceiling. The god was still outside and he slunk around the corner and watched his target.

"That's not," Captain America said, "never mind."

"We've got incoming," Iron Man said. "Everyone better buckle up."

* * *

 **AN: Hope I didn't keep everyone waiting for too long. Thank you so much for the reviews! Last chapter was overwhelming and I can't thank you enough.**

 **I actually have a question, would you guys like me to included all of the battle of New York?**


	8. Chapter 7

**you guys CIVIL WAR!sldhfgksdgeriuhgodshvosdnvkjbsdkghowhf, ug i love bucky barnes.**

 **so now that you guys know how i felt about the movie, here is another chapter. sorry for taking so long but if you read my tumblr than you know what was going on, for those of you who didn't. basically finals came and bit me in the ass.**

 **But i got through it, then i got through civil war.**

 **Anyway, here it is! Read, Review, and Enjoy!**

* * *

 **Chapter Seven**

* * *

I felt weird, almost as if I was being pulled and torn in two different directions. I couldn't get a bearing or find myself some land to get stable on. My breath was coming easier than it had these last couple of months, but I couldn't remember what happened? Where was I? My mind felt tired from trying to figure out what was going on. So I relaxed and allowed myself to succumb to the whirlwind of pushing and pulling.

* * *

"Spidey," Iron Man said as started flying through the Chitauri army picking off strays. "Update."

"She's moving," Spiderman informed him. "Any time now."

"Good," Iron Man replied but asking the rest of the group. "Where's Banner? Has he shown up yet?"

* * *

My eyes flew open, my hands were resting on my stomach as what happened began racing through my mind. The explosion. The piece of glass.

"Red," I heard a voice in my ear. "Stay laying down and don't make any sounds,"

 _Red_? I thought, I knew that name. A friend called me that. I did what the voice told me to. Peter, I think it was him.

I closed my eyes and tried to relax again. Footsteps were echoing as I tried to figure out where I was. I stretched my hearing, footsteps most definitely and something else. There was something else I could hear. Screaming.

I shot up, ignoring the pain that rain up my spine.

"Damn it, Red!" I heard Peter in my ear. But I wasn't paying attention; my gaze was locked on the massacre that was going on outside, the war in New York.

"Oh my god," I whispered to myself as I ran to the window. Just by seeing the rest of the building in my periphery I knew I was in the Stark Tower, I was in my home. I was safe, but by looking outside I knew that the people in the city were not.

A hand landed on my shoulder and I turned around. "Wh-what is this?" I cried motioning to the outside. "What have you done?"

"I'm building our kingdom," Loki replied as he dragged me away from the window,"from the ground up."

"What?" I asked as I spun away from his hand. "Hundreds of people are being killed."

"Thousands," he countered calmly.

Coldness crept up the base of my spine. I didn't recognize this man in front of me; this monster. I took a couple of steps away as I tried to wrap my head around this war, this _war_ that was taking place outside on the streets; in my home.

"Darling," Loki cooed as he reached forward towards me.

I shook my head and took another step back. "Who are you?" I whispered, the coldness crawling through my body.

Loki let out a breath through his nose and he stepped forward and snatched my wrist. "I'm your king," he growled out pulling me flat against him. "I'm the one who healed you, and you will obey me."

Words escaped me, I couldn't formulate a quip or a comfort. I opened my mouth but closed it again as Loki's grip tightened. I whimpered in pain as my knees started to buckle. Loki's arm wrapped around my waist. "Shh," he soothed, "it's just your body healing, you weren't supposed to shoot off of the couch so quickly."

 _"Nod your head,"_ I heard a low voice on the headpiece in my ear.

I was glad for some sort of instructions so I nodded my head slowly.

Loki's grip turned from threatening to loving with the nod. He leaned down and pressed a kiss to my lips. I remained frozen, not pushing him away but not reciprocating, unmoving. He pulled away and looked over my shoulder. "Take her to our room." He commanded. He let go of my wrist and removed his arm from my waist. "I'll come for you when it's over."I followed his eyes and froze seeing two Chitauri soldiers standing there. I forced myself to take one step but I couldn't make myself take anymore.

 _"Go with them,"_ the low voice urged, I felt something in side of me switch to automatic as I turned and headed down the hall to my room.

"Your highness," the soldier hissed as he steered me away from my room. And towards the master bedroom.

 _'Our room'_ those words echoed again. He wanted to take this tower, my family's tower, and turn this in to his castle. Bile rose up in my throat as the door to my parent's room slammed shut. I booked it towards the bathroom and emptied what little I had in my stomach.

My hair fell forward as I rested my head against the toilet. I let out a sob.

 _"Scarlett,"_ the voice said firmly. I closed my eyes and focused on Natasha's words.

"Yeah," I whispered. "I'm fine. I'm good. I'm fine."

 _"We're coming for you,"_ Steve said.

"Focus on what's going on in the streets," I said as I wiped the back of my hand and leaned back on my heels and flushed. "I can wait."

 _"Daughter, how ya doing?"_ my dad's voice spoke in my ear.

I smiled at hearing his voice, at hearing his reassurance.

"Oh you know, I'm kinda hungry," I quipped. _"Well as soon as we finish up here I'll get you some food,"_ he reported back.

"I'll hold you to that," I promised.

I stood up and glanced at myself in the mirror. I was a horror to behold. Still in my blood covered clothes I shook my head and went to go steal one of my dad's shirts.

 _"Finish cleaning up Red, then we are getting the hell outta dodge,"_ Peter said.

I reached up and clicked the mute button on the piece while I stripped out of my bloodied top. Pepper is way taller than me, so it looked like I was stuck with my dirty jeans. I slipped my dad's Iron Maiden shirt on and threw my hair into a messy bun, there was no way in hell I was going to be able to tame what was going on up there without a huge deep condition. I washed my face and quickly brushed my teeth, all the while forcing myself to focus on what I was doing. Not allowing myself to think about anything outside these bathroom walls for the moment.

* * *

Unclicking the mute button I took a breath while I heard Steve giving orders to the others.

"Alright Spidey," I spoke quietly. "Get me out of here."

 _"Go into the bedroom,"_ Peter ordered, _"and figure out how to remove the window."_

The window? I thought to myself as I stared at the line of windows that made up the side of the master bedroom's wall. "Which one?" I asked.

 _"The one in the middle, you're going to have to jump, so big enough for you to get through,"_ he rose up in my throat again as I processed the words that Peter was saying. But I forced everything back down again as I focused what was being said and not anything else. _Ok Scarlett, lets get this window removed._

I looked around the bedroom, neither one of my parents had a chance to fully move in here yet. Which meant that the odds of having some save-all tool that my dad left in the bedroom wasn't good.

"Fuuck," I groaned as tried to figure out what to do.

 _"Anytime now,"_ Peter said. _"Not like there's a war going on."_

"You know what," I said as I turned back to the door and locked it, I walked over and scooted the bookcase that was on the same wall in front of the door. I took a step back and surveyed my work, before decided to drag the master bed in front of it too. You know, aliens and all.

I took my dirty t-shirt and wrapped it around my fist before picking up the nightstand. "Get ready," I growled before I threw the stand into the window, the sound was about as loud as you would expect. I heard the aliens trying to open the door while I took my cloth covered hand and made the whole big enough by knocking the extra glass off.

"Clara!" I heard Loki call out as the door thumped.

"I'm jumping," I said before taking a couple steps back, I took off running as the door burst open. "Please catch me," I said underneath my breath as I leapt.

* * *

I closed my eyes as my stomach flew up into my throat, I didn't know if this was going to work, but I knew for sure I wasn't going to watch.

Like clockwork, an arm wrapped around my waist and I threw my arms around whoever was holding me.

"I've got you," I heard Peter's voice in my ear as we dipped and rose once again.

"I'm gonna be sick," I groaned as I buried my still closed eyes into the crook of his neck.

"Please don't," Peter said a little panicky. "I just made this."

We rose and fell a couple more times before we landed. We stood there for a couple of moments but I still had my eyes closed and buried.

"Red," Peter whispered in my ear. "We're on the ground."

I slowly unwound my arms and took a step back. "Hi," I whispered.

"Hello" he replied with a small wave of his hand.

"So I'm alive," I said as I raised my hands and let them fall back by my sides.

"I see that."

There was a roar and both of us jumped as we turned around and saw a giant freaking alien headed right towards us. "Holy shit!" I said.

"Uh," was Peter's response as the two of us stood there struck frozen.

 _"Hey there do you mind getting my daughter out of the trouble you just put her in,"_ my father's very irritated voice came through the earpieces.

"I wh th I-," I managed to stumble out ungracefully.

I saw the flash of red that belonged to my dad's Iron Man suit fly past the giant alien-thing.

"We gotta go," Peter said grabbing my wrist. I followed him as we took off running. We took a left and ran into a diner where there were a couple of people there.

* * *

I felt my knees buckle and Peter helped me slide to the floor. I pulled my knees to my chest and rested my head on them.

"You okay?" I heard Peter murmur in my ears.

I manage a nod but I don't lift my head. I didn't know if I was okay, I didn't even know what I was feeling or thinking let alone forming any actual coherent things.

The people in the diner started screaming, I glanced up and peered through the window. I quickly turned back around before closing my eyes and taking a deep breath.

* * *

 _"I'm bringing the party to you,"_ I heard my dad's voice in my ear. I tried to ignore the image of that giant serpent-thing chasing my dad through the streets of New York.

* * *

"Ok," I breathed as I stood up and faced the crowd, with Spiderman by my side everyone was looking at us for answers. "We need to get everyone out of here."

Peter nodded his head and held out his hand to stand up. "Where?" he asked.

I looked around for anyone who worked here, I finally found a waiter. "Is there a basement here?" I asked.

He thought for a moment before shaking his head. "No, just a back door."

I perked up at hearing that. "Can we leave through there?" I asked.

He turned and looked at an older man. He cleared his throat and nodded. "I have a key to the gate."

"What's your plan?" A woman asked a little harshly. "To go outside?"

"We need to get away from the battle," I motioned towards the outside window, "If we can make it to the subway, or a basement."

"And risk our lives?" another person yelled.

I took a deep breath as the Chitauri roared behind us. "We are sitting ducks here," I said "I don't want to go outside, but we need to find shelter. So we can sit here and argue about it while the army outside comes in here, or we can get ourselves to safety."

There was a murmur that went through the people as everyone finally decided to accept that we need to get out of here.

"Ok," I said looking at the older man, who I assumed was a manager of this place. "Do you think that you can get to the subway from here?"

He thought about it for a moment and then nodded.

I turned towards Peter. "Lead 'em out?" I asked.

Peter followed my plan and lead the group out. I waited behind, making sure everyone got out. I noticed a small girl hiding underneath a chair so I bent down and offered my arms out to her. "Come here, sweetie," I cooed. The girl, with cute dark brown pigtails shook her head and hid further underneath the table. "I promise I'll get you somewhere safe," I continued.

"I want my mama," she cried.

"I promise we're going to find her," I said. That got her attention and she looked up at me, I crossed my heart with my fingers and she slowly crawled out and

I picked her up and headed out to the back of the dinner. I kept my head up and alert as I continued following the group as peter lead them.I heard a growl and froze, the girl in my arms buried her face in my neck as I turned around. There was a Chitauri soldier standing behind me. I took a couple of steps back and tumbled out in the street, the soldier following me.

I started looking for something, anything to be able to defend myself as the little girl started to cry.

My back hit a car and I glanced at it, making a split decision to elbow the window, I winced as pain shot through my arm, but I managed to grab a piece of glass to wield as a weapon against the alien.

The smell coming from the alien make me gag as I held up the glass in defense of the two of us. He continued his pursuit slowly, step by step in front of us, as I pried the little girl off of me and shoved her into the open back door. "Get down," I told her as I shut the door.

I braced myself and squared my shoulders as the alien finally started to attack. I moved to the left quickly dodging his weapon as it swung down. I moved and now was standing behind the alien. I saw him making his way towards the girl in the backseat who started screaming at seeing him.

"Fuck," I swore as I jumped on the aliens back and plunged the piece of glass into the alien's neck. The Chitauri started streaming as it started to fail its arms. They finally found its mark as I found myself thrown from his back.

I only managed a groan as my body made contact with the hood of the car. Pain went coursing through me as I tried to push myself up, to look at the alien who I knew was going to be coming after me. How superheroes managed to get right back up, I had no idea because I barely had enough time to force my head to look up at the Chitauri as he raised his arm to strike again.

An arrow landed into the Chitauri's head as it keeled over dead, seconds before I was.

I rested my head on the cab for a couple more seconds. That arrow was purple. Clint was here and was fighting against the Chitauri.

The was little girl in the car sobbing managed to reach my ears again as the blood stopped beating in my ears.

I rolled off the hood of the cab and opened the back door as the little girl threw herself at me.

I tried to soothe her as I figured out where I was and where there was a subway entrance nearby.

 _"Getting off the street would be best,"_ I heard Clint's voice in my ear.

I smiled at hearing his voice again. "I'm trying to find a subway entrance," I confessed.

There was a pause before he answered. _"Two blocks on your left."_

"Thanks," I said before taking off to my left, my head on a swivel as I managed to reach the steps and descend into the subway.

* * *

The first person I saw was my best friend, no longer in his Spiderman suit.

"Change of clothes?" I asked him.

My voice caught his attention as he darted over and smashed me and the kid in a hug. I returned the hug just as eagerly.

"My best friend needed Peter at the moment," he murmured in my ear.

"But the city needs Spiderman," I countered as we pulled back from the hug.

"I can be both," he said. "I was planning on helping groups get to this area in the subway."

I nodded as the little girl started squirming in my arms, I sat her down and watched as she took off running. "Mama!" she cried as she found the arms of her mom. A shot of jealousy and longing shot through me and I found myself surprised. I was going to get a huge hug from both of my parents, as soon as this crisis was over. Shoving those feelings back down I focused my attention back into the conversation. "I'll come with you," I said.

Peter just shook his head. "Red, think for a moment, please."

"I cant think, because if I start thinking it's over," I explained.

Peter clasped my hands and then sighed. "Stay with me," he instructed. "We're evacuating only. You can't just run into trouble."

I nodded my head. "I promise, come on Peter, you, me, saving people. It'll be just like what we dreamed of when we were kids."

Peter shook his head. "This isn't like when we were kids," he warned.

"I know," I promised, "but Peter, I can't stop, I can't stop because then I will think about everything. About how I came back from the dead, or Lo-Loki and the fact that my dad is," I started to ramble, so I quickly took a ragged breath in as Peter placed his hand over my mouth.

"Focus," Peter said. "Red, focus here and now, stop thinking."

I glared at him but nodded my head as I calmed back down and focused on the here and now. I let the thoughts slowly go.

"Let's go," I told him.

"Let's go," he parroted back.


	9. Chapter 8

**Hey guys! Guess who's back, back again :) I've got an AN at the bottom.**

 **Read, Review, and Enjoy!**

* * *

 **Chapter Eight**

* * *

We had made our way through small diners, getting the small groups ready and rallying them to move from where they thought they were safe, to where they actually were safe; underground.

We stepped into a bank where there was a bigger group.

"We got to get out of here," peter said to the crowd as we burst into the main area.

"Are you crazy?" said a blonde woman dressed in a waitress uniform. "There are aliens out there!"

"And we're sitting ducks in here," I countered. I understood people's panic, I really did, but Lord was I about sick of going through this shit every time.

There was a hiss from the upper level of the bank. My heart dropped as we all looked up and saw a row of aliens standing at the ready. Peter took up a position of in the front of the group, his eyes searching around for an advantage and his instincts on alert. "Pete," I whispered as I placed my hand on his upper arm. There were too many of them for him to take alone. I could hear my family, uh, _the team_ fighting in my ear; their instructions, my dad doing stupid things, but I had tuned them out, their presence was comforting but just another thing that I couldn't really focus on.

"On 42nd, past Madison," I heard Clint's voice, drawing my attention to what was being said on the earpiece. "They've cornered a lot of civilians."

"Cap's coming," I whispered in his ear.

Peter gave a slight nod, letting me know that he heard me.

The aliens all stood around us, my chest tightening as they all raised their weapons. There was a pulsing noise coming up from the around the aliens. They all turned around and I noticed that this was our chance.

"Run," I said to the few around me. "Quietly, get to the subway."

The group started to leave, the rest of the crowd seeing and understanding what was going on. Peter and I got separated and I was shoved through the building, not knowing what happened in there.

There were firemen and soldiers waiting for us outside, to help us get to safety. I managed to sidestep to the left as I searched for my best friend to escape the building. I was tired, what little adrenaline I had was gone and I think I was ready to find some place to hide.

* * *

My inner defeat was suspended when I saw Steve launched out of a window and fell onto a car that was stationary a few feet from me. "Oh my God!" I yelled as I ran over to him. "Steve?" I asked quietly as he landed on his stomach, he lifted his head and a smile formed on his face.

"Scarlett," he said as he pushed himself up from the smashed car.

My eyes widened at seeing the dent that his body had left in the roof of the car. "How are you?"

He was fully standing now, in my eyesight now I drew my attention to him.

"Super solider," he reminded me. "What are you doing here?"

"I was helping evacuate," I said.

"You need to get somewhere safe," Steve told me.

"I was getting there," I replied.

I stared at Steve while he stood there trying catch his breath. My heart lurched at him seeing him tired, there was a cut on his arm, and his helmet was gone.

"You- you look good," he stammered.

I felt the corners of my lips twitch. "You look tired," I commented."Nah," he said, "I'm good."

We settled back into silence as Steve surveyed the area.

"Get somewhere safe," Steve whispered. "Please."

I looked up at him and I found myself nodding. "Ok, stay safe, please."

I felt someone's hand on my shoulder and I glanced at it, and knew it was Peter's.

"I promise," he said as I gripped Peter's hand and we left Steve standing there.

"We should go underground," I told him as we headed down the street.

Peter nodded his head and I took the moment to look over him when reality struck me. "Oh God, Peter, where's Gwen?"

"She's safe," he said with a squeeze of my hand. "Your dad got me the heads up and I got her family to safety."

I glanced over at the squadron of police cars where I could just make out Gwen's dad yelling into one of the radios. "Except for Captain Stacy," I added.

Peter glanced at the Captain and nodded. "Except for him."

* * *

 _"Scarlett,"_ I heard Natasha's voice come through the comms. _"I'm trying to shut off the Tesseract, how do I do it?"_

"Uh," I said my mind racing as I tried to start running through equations and scenarios where I could come up with a reasonable way to turn it off. "The energy," I began.

 _"Doctor Selvig is awake,"_ she told me, interrupting my ramble before it began. _"He thinks that the energy from the scepter should be able to turn it off."_

"I, I don't know," I confessed as I leaned against the crumbled down wall. "If Dr. S says it will then I trust him."

She didn't reply and I couldn't help but feel like I had disappointed her somehow, that I had let her down in the one aspect that she needed me in.

"This is terrible," I said as I pressed the heels of my palms against my eyes. "I can't take this."

"Scarlett," Peter snapped.

"Peter, cant you hear?" I asked, "Can't you hear the cries of those people, who are hurt and dying and scared." I couldn't take it anymore, those sounds of people in pain; people who needed help.

"I can," he gritted out, "of course I can, but we can't do anything else without getting ourselves and more hurt."

I looked up at Peter and then glanced behind him at everyone fighting. "We're not going to win," I said. "We can't."

* * *

My cheek stung as my head was snapped to the side. "What. The. Fuck." I growled as I placed my hand on my burning cheek.

"Knock it off," Peter said. "We are going to win, and we are going to come out of this, and we need to get off the street."

I was livid that Peter thought that this was the way to get me out of my funk. But for the moment I could understand what he thought he was doing in-the-moment. However, I was going to kick his ass when this was over.

I glared at him and pushed myself off of the wall.

 _"Stark? Do you hear me?"_ Fury's voice said in my ear, diverting my attention from the potential ass kicking that was going to happen. _"You have a missile headed straight for the city."_

My eyes widened as I stared up at Peter who looked at me in confusion. "What?" he asked."

 _"How long?"_ my father questioned. I was confused on why I could hear this, maybe my dad had programmed this comm for every channel?

 _"Three minutes, max."_

"Red?" Peter asked.

"There is a missile headed towards us," I breathed out. "They're going to blow the island."

I turned to my left and saw the tower standing in the distance. I felt the sudden urge to get there and figure out how to stop this, so I took off running towards the tower, towards my home.

"Scarlett!" I heard Peter running after me.

A car came careening forward as I jumped up onto the sidewalk and then back on the street once the danger had passed.

"Scarlett?" I heard a familiar voice as I ran past what I thought was Thor and Steve.

 _"I can close it,"_ Natasha spoke. _"Can anyone copy?"_

No, they couldn't close it, there was a nuke coming.

 _"Do it!"_ Steve commanded in my ear _._

"Wait!" I could hear Peter's voice as I continued to run. I hoped he was telling them about the nuke.

 _"I know just where to put it,"_ my dad said.

* * *

My whole body jerked to a stop as I stood in the middle of the war laden street.

"Dad," I whispered, not knowing if it was loud enough for him to hear it.

I heard footsteps behind me stop, as the boys finally caught up to me.

"Stark, you know that's a one way trip," Steve said.

Hearing him speak behind me and then the echo in my ear broke a whimper out of me. "Dad?" I questioned again.

"I know, baby," he said.

"Don't do this," I begged. "Please."

"I have to," he replied.

I felt my knees buckle but strong arms wrapped around my waist keeping me up. Tears had finally broken as they trailed down my cheeks. I couldn't lose him, not him. I needed my dad, hopelessness crept up in my throat as I felt this desperation inside me as I tried to figure out what to do, what my response to this should me.

"I love you," he said in my ear, "so much.""Please don't leave me," I begged as I lost any shred of self respect I had. "Please, I need you."

I looked up and saw my dad's Iron Man suit fly past us, a few strands of my hair whipping around my face. I couldn't form any words as I watched his suit scale the tower.

"Scarlett," he grunted.

"Yeah," I sniffed.

"Happy Birthday," he said as he disappeared into the wormhole.

"Dad!" I called as my body weight was fully supported by whoever had me. "DAD!"

But he didn't answer. I closed my eyes as a scream tore through my throat. "No, no,no,no,no," I mumbled as soon as I took a ragged breath. "Please, not him."

The aliens around us started to fall. He had done it, he had saved the day. That acknowledgement brought a wave of exhaustion through me. My dad had saved the day and it had only cost him his life.

I couldn't bring myself to look up at the wormhole, the hope that he might escape some high danger yet again not there this time. Us Starks had had enough luck in that department, our time was due to come. And it looked like this was it.

"Close it," I heard a voice behind me commanded.

That ignited a fire that I didn't know was inside me as I clawed at the hands that held me.

"No!" I yelled. "Do not close it Natasha!" I needed to say goodbye, I needed to be able to bury my father's body. The hands were unrelenting as I tried everything I could to escape them. I felt my feet leave the ground but still I fought to leave.

"I'm sorry," I heard someone whisper in my ear as a pulse shot through the city as the portal closed.

A sound that sounded like a sob broke racked through me as I slowly stopped my quest. It was over.

"Son of a gun," Steve said.

I looked up and saw my father's suit falling through the ground. "Dad!" I called.

But he was falling too fast, hurtling towards the ground, the suit wasn't on. But the suit was powered by the reactor, if that wasn't going that there was nothing stopping the shrapnel to his heart.

Thor said something but I was already gone, my prison having gone lax at the thought that I was done fighting.

My eyes were glued to my dad as I tried to run to the spot where I thought hewas going to land. My heart gave an unexpected leap as the Hulk caught him.

I had just reached them as Hulk tossed him on the ground. I sunk to my knees as I tried to turn him over. "Please, please, please," I prayed to any and every God willing to listen.

Thor suddenly appeared behind me as he ripped my dad's face plate off.

I immediately jumped into the hardest case of CPR ever. "We have to get the reactor started," I spoke, way too fast for anyone to be able to understand me. "We need to restart his heart." I was shoving so hard through the suit on my father's chest, I tipped his head and pinched his nose as I shoved oxygen into his mouth. Going back to trying to do compressions on the Iron Man suit I repeated my task, over and once more.

Steve's hand, which I noted had scratch marks on the tops of them, clasped over mine.

"Let go!" I exclaimed in confusion. "We've got to get his heart started, we need to save him."

"Scarlett," Steve murmured.

My breath started coming faster now, I couldn't find the ability to take an actual deep breath as my body tried to accept what it was exactly that Steve was trying to say.

Hulk rose up and started to clench his fists before letting out a roar.

My father jumped in surprise as he gasped for breath.

"Dad!" I yelled as I ripped myself from Steve's grasp and threw myself at him, my forehead hit the shoulder of the suit but I didn't care.

Fate had blessed me again, as my dad's arm immediately wrapped around my waist.

"Are you ok?" he asked hearing the sound my forehead made as it bounced against the suit.

I shook my head no as I strangled him in a hug.

"Please tell me nobody kissed me," he said as he just allowed me to basically lie on top of him.

"Does CPR count?" I asked.

"Yes," my dad responded.

"Then Steve did," I said with a smile as I shifted off of him and rested next to his head on my knees.

Peter chuckled and Steve took a breath. "We won," he supplied.

"All right, yay!" my dad cheered still laying on the ground "Hurray. Good job guys, let's just not come in tomorrow. Let's just take a day."

I squeezed his metal hand as his attention turned towards me. "Have you ever tried Shawarma?" he asked.

I shook my head no in reply.

"There's a shawarma joint about two blocks from here. I don't know what it is, but I want to try it. Are you still hungry?" he tears had started to flow again as nodded my head in agreement.

"We're not finished yet," Thor spoke, ruining the moment.

Everyone looked up at him as my dad squeezed my hand.

"And then shawarma after?" he asked.

I stood up as Steve helped my dad stand.

"I'm gonna go," Peter said as he drew me into another hug. "Be safe."

"Go," I said tightening my arms around his waist. "Thank you," I whispered.

One more kiss placed on the top of my head and he disappeared.

I looked up at the Hulk and offered him the biggest smile I could offer him. "Thanks, big guy," I said.

The Hulk nodded before he opened his mouth. "Alright?" he asked.

I was stunned at hearing him talk but I reached up and patted the closest piece of his leg I could reach. "I am, big guy," I replied.

He took off towards the other three men who were already headed towards the tower.

* * *

I started to slowly follow them, my mind trying to come to terms with what happened today, to the city, to my family, to me. Car alarms were still going off in the distance, with each step I took it was like another layer of sounds were being added. Was this what war was like? I glanced down and saw a stuffed bunny rabbit lying on the road, abandoned. Someone's favorite rabbit, left in a hurry to live. Would that child be able to sleep tonight without it? Did they still have both of their parents to tuck them in and promise to find the rabbit in the morning? Was the child even alive to miss it?

I was alive. I wasn't and then I was, just like that. I was deemed another chance. I stumbled and eventually just sunk to my knees. I died. It was painful and scary and I remember every second of it. I remember being terrified and then this calm as I finally accepted that this was my fate, that this was how my story ended. And now it didn't; now I had a chance to add chapters, to change the narrative if I wanted to. but now the question of Did I want to? rang through my thoughts. Did I want to wrap my head around what had happened while the city tried to wrap their head around the aliens that attacked the city? Wouldn't have it just been easier if I could have stopped when I was ready to?

A hand slapped down on my shoulder, startling me out of my inner thoughts. I looked up and offered Clint a small smile. He helped me up to my feet and pulled me into a bone crunching hug. "Tweety," he breathed as I finally accepted and returned his affection. "What are you doing?"

"Thinking," I mumbled into his shirt.

"Don't do that," he said. "Not now, give yourself some time.""Are you following that advice?" I asked as I leaned back so I could stare at him.

"It's different," he said.

"Sure it is," I teased as the two of us made our way back inside the tower.

"Is the elevator working?" Clint asked hopefully,

"Too lazy to take the steps?" I asked.

"Something like that."

I walked up to the control panel. "Jarvis?" I called. "Is it safe?"

"Yourself and Mr. Barton can take the elevator up to the penthouse," he replied.

We stepped into the elevator as Jarvis opened the doors for us.

"Ready to see Loki?" Clint asked.

"No," I whispered, goose bumps running up my arms at the thought. "Are you?"

"Not even a little," he replied as the doors slid shut and took us up to meet the face of the god who had been the cause of all of this.

* * *

 **AN: Alrighty guys, we have 2 more chapters before this story is over, and then I'm going to Italy for vacation! I'm really excited and ready for adventure, unfortunately that means that i'll will not have time or the wifi to update. I'm 96% sure that I will have all of the chapters uploaded before I leave, but I'll be gone for 18-ish days so after phase 1 ;) we will have a break.**

 **As for me, I've seen Civil War waaaaaayyy to many times and I've been able to official come out and say that I am Team Ironman, well more like i agree with Black Widow which by default puts me on team Ironman. What team are you?**


	10. Chapter 9

**Chapter Nine**

* * *

I watched as the numbers ticked by as we stood in the elevator. I hit the emergency stop as we reached the top.

Clint looked at me in confusion as I started shaking my head. "I can't do this." I whispered as I reached back so I could lean against the back of the elevator. "I can't face him. I can't face him, because what if he is still angry. Or, or he could try and voodoo me again and then I would be dying again or dead depending on how much magic he had. But then dad would be upset and but, he should be dead too. I mean he dropped from space where there is no air. His reactor was off so there was time for those tiny pieces to get closer to his heart. And then he would be dead and I would be dead and then there would be no more Starks so the com-" Clint put his hand over my mouth.

"Is this a panic attack?" He asked concerned lacing his tone.

"I, I ,I-" I stuttered before stopping and taking a breath and leaned close to rest my head on his shoulder. "I can't see him."

Clint reached up and squeezed my hand. "Ok," he said as he pressed the button and the elevator reached the top level. The doors slid opened and Clint immediately stood in front of me as he led me to my room, blocking me from the mess going on in the front room.

We slipped into my room and I sat on the bed, my head cradled in my hands. Clint pressed a quick kiss to the top of my head and left me alone.

* * *

I took a couple of steady minutes and then stood up. I turned the water on in the shower and started to strip. I paused before taking off my bra; all of my scars were gone. I twisted around to see my back and it was clear too. My knees started to tremble and I placed my hands on the counter. _You can get through this,_ I told myself, _breathe._ I jumped into the shower and started to scrub away everything that happened. I washed my hair, not getting all the tangles out but enough for now. I turned off the water, my skin now pink from trying to scrub the memories of today away. I dressed in a pair of jeans and threw on a soft pink and green plaid button up.

Numb, that's how I felt. My entire body was numb and there was a ringing in my ears. I robotically braided my hair in a side braid. Finishing, I paused, no the ringing wasn't in my ears. It was coming from my desk. I stood up and my wobbly legs made it to the desk where I picked up the phone. "hello?" I asked before clearing my throat and saying it again "hello?"

"Is he ok?" I heard a concerned voice from the other end.

I paused as I tried to catch up on the conversation. "He is, hold on, I'll get him."

I hit mute on the phone and stared at the door, on the other side was the man who caused all of this. On the other side was the man who brought me back from death. I squared my shoulders and slid on my Stark mask.

I threw the door opened and strutted into the living room. I glanced around at the superheroes that were situated around the room before I found the one I was looking for.

"I get that you just saved the world," I said as I tossed the phone to Clint, he caught it, looking at the number, "but ignoring your boss, not a good idea."

Clint shot up and headed straight towards my room.

* * *

I looked up at my dad who was entering the room, sans suit. We made eye contact and he motioned his head. "To the lab, daughter?" he asked.

I nodded my head and walked over to him. I looked up at him and the two of us pulled each other into a bone crushing hug.

I buried my head into his chest and squeezed tighter, I waited this entire war for this hug, and I'll be damned if I let anyone take this moment away from me.

We pulled back and I narrowed my eyes at him before punching him in the shoulder.

"Ow," my father said clutching where I hit him, "daughter!"

"Father!" I countered.

"What was that for?"

"You died," I said. "You left me alone."

My dad looked at me raising an eyebrow. "You died first," he countered.

I paused for a moment pursing my lips I shrugged my shoulders. "Fair enough," I conceded.

* * *

Dad threw his arm around me and the two of us headed to the lab, not paying any attention to anyone else in the room. I was still purposefully not looking for Loki. "How are you?" He asked.

"Still hungry," I made it into the lab and I noticed Bruce sitting there, back down to human size in some of my dad's clothes.

"Hey Dr. B," I said as I sat next to him.

"Feeling any better?" he asked.

I nodded my head. "Well, I'm not dying so, yes."

"About that," my dad said as he pulled my hand towards him, he pricked my finger and took a small swab of blood.

"Um, ow," I said taking my hand back.

Dad placed the sample on the table and had Jarvis start to run diagnoses on it.

"I really can't wait here to see if the cancer is gone," I said my eyes glued to the sample.

"Then let's go eat," he chirped.

Fury sent over some S.H.I.E.L.D. agents to take over watching Loki for us as the team and I made our way to go to wherever this Shawarma place that my dad had found.

We settled down while my dad walked over and persuaded the workers to actually make some food instead of trying to clean up their restaurant.

I settled down in between my dad and Steve, I picked at my food as everyone settled down and began eating.

After five minutes I glanced around our small team and noticed that pretty much everyone except for Thor and Bruce were dead on their feet. I looked over at my dad who was still trying to finish his meal. "You done?" I asked softly.

He shook his head no, so I rested my head on the first thing I could find. It was Steve's still padded shoulder, and I closed my eyes and fell asleep.

* * *

I woke up, wrapped in my blankets and felt better than I had in a long time. I dug myself out of my cocoon and made my way into the living room.

"She awakens!" My dad exclaimed as I padded into the kitchen.

I scrunched my face in confusion as I picked up the coffee pot and poured some in a cup for me. "What?" I asked I had taken a sip.

"You slept for an entire day," my dad informed me.

"I did?" I questioned. "God, I haven't slept that much since-"

"Since never," my dad finished, "trust me, you have never slept that much, and as a single parent of said four year old that was awful."

I smiled as I hopped up on the counter. "So, I slept for over twenty four hours," I said trying to absorb the information.

"That's what happens when you die and have a God bring you back and cure you of cancer," he said.

My heart skipped a beat. "C-cured?" I stuttered out.

"Jarvis finished running the tests, it's gone and whatever mutated cell that was wrong is gone, too. It's like it never happened." He informed.

"It's gone?" I whispered.

My dad walked over and crushed me in another huge hug. "It's gone daughter," he whispered into my hair.I gripped him tighter. When I woke up we were in a war, I had done my best to force everything out of my mind; all the pain and all the worry and focus on helping those people, getting them to safety. And then the nuke happened and my dad was flying into space and I never once stopped to think about my health. But it's over now, the peril and danger subsided and I had hoped that what Loki had done had worked. Apparently it was gone and I never had to worry about it again.

My dad pulled back and I hopped off of the counter. "I need to face him," I said.

"You don't _need_ to do anything," he countered as he took a step back and let me pass.

"Point," I conceded. "But I feel like there is something that I need to do."

My dad thought about it for a moment, "Ok, I'll go with you."

I nodded my head. "Twenty minutes," I promised as I headed back to my room.

First things first, one I did need to do was take a shower. I took my time and actually combed the rat's nest I called hair. Drying off I threw on some underwear and a bra, I pulled on a pair of black slacks and turned back to my closet to find a shirt.

"Scarlett?" I heard a voice call as the door opened.

I turned around and saw Steve standing there, his face red and he started stuttering because I was standing there, in my bra. I squeaked and threw myself into the closet trying to find a top that I could throw on quickly. "Steve," I stammered.

"I'm so sorry," Steve managed to get out. "I'll just-" he trailed off and I heard the door shut again.

I groaned and slid to the floor, careful of the shoes that were on the floor. I cannot believe that just happened. I picked up a light rose-pink tank with black cross back straps. I opened the door and looked down the hall. No Steve.

I sighed and skulked back into my room to finish my hair and makeup. I ended up just keeping my hair in its natural waves and a quick swipe of mascara before I threw on a black jacket and slipped on some ballet flats before I left my room and headed back to the living room.

I looked down and adjusted my top before running into someone. "I'm sorry," I gasped as a pair of arms grabbed me from falling.

It was Steve…. again.

I exhaled a breath with a smile. "We've got to stop meeting like this," I said.

His cheeks turned pink and he quickly let go of my arms. "Scarlett," he yelled out startled.

I jumped at the loudness of his exclamation.

"Steve," I greeted back in a softer, more normal tone.

He nodded his head realizing that he spoke too loudly.

I looked around and grabbed his hand before sneaking into the spare room to the left."Are you ok?" I asked. I noticed that across the back of his palms where these thin red lines, healing scratches were more accurate; scratches that I had caused. "I sorry about these," I said my fingertips trailing along them. flashes of me clawing my way out of his grip during the battle rose through my mind.

"It's fine," he said slowly pulling his hand away from my grip, "and I'm fine."

I glanced up at him but took his answer anyways.

"I'm sorry about before," he said motioning to the door. "About the door."

I waved away his apology. "Accidents happen."

We stood there in silence for a few moments before I opened my mouth to ask him a question, but Steve beat me to the punch.

"I wanted to see if you were ok," he said. "I heard that you were awake and," he trailed off.

I gave him a small quick smile before thinking about the answer. "Honestly, no," I finally admitted. "But I think that I might get there eventually."

Steve nodded and we settled back down into our silence. It was an almost awkward silence, like the two of us were on the verge of saying something, the thing we wanted to say, what we needed to say.

I was shocked out of my thoughts by two strong arms wrapping around me. It's a hug, it's a hug from Steve. I quickly wrapped my arms around his middle. He squeezes me tight. "I'm so glad you're ok," he said.

We release each other and I gave him another smile, this one true and not forced.

The door opened and my dad walked in. "There you two are," he said before sending a glare at Steve before turning to face me. "Ready?"

"Yeah," I said and I headed out of the room with him.

* * *

"So where is everyone?" I asked as we headed towards the elevator.

"Already there," my dad replied. "Well almost everyone, Cap apparently isn't."

I hip check him. "Be nice," I warned.

The doors slid shut as we rode down two floors before the doors opened again.

"Really?" I asked as we stepped out.

"Like we would let Loki out of here," he said as he offered his arm for me.

I raised an eyebrow and took his offered arm as he walked into the living area of this floor. There were the rest of the Avengers, along with Fury and Maria and a few other S.H.I.E.L.D. agents.

"Lady Clara," Thor boomed as he saw me, everyone stopped what they were doing and looked up at the two of us.

I shifted on my feet at the attention.

"Yes it is us," my father said as we descended to mingle.

I settled on the couch next to Clint while I watched everyone go back to what they were doing.

"Come to join the team?" Clint asked.

I laughed and shook my head. "I think we both know that I'm not on the Avengers recruitment list. No, I'm here to see him," I admitted.

"You ready for that?" He asked.

"Not even a little bit," I replied truthfully, "but I don't have a choice, he'll be gone if I wait till I'm ready."

Clint tilted his head, and then slapped his hands on his thighs. "Then what are we waiting for?" He asked as he stood up and held out his hand for me to grab.

"The coward in me to overtake what slice of courage I have somehow acquired," I quipped. Nevertheless I took his hand and we slipped away down the hall to where the Loki was being arrived at the door and I paused. "A spare bedroom?" I asked.

"It's not like you guys built a dungeon when you designed the tower," Clint said as he nodded at the two guards at the door.

"My bad," I said as I glanced at Clint. "Next time."

I reached forward and opened the door before stepping in. I didn't wait, I didn't try to take a breath; if I did, I knew I wasn't going to go through with this. I was diving headfirst without a plan in this.

* * *

I closed the door and looked around the room. I found him sitting in one of the chairs for the table in the corner.

"So she finally decides to show," Loki taunted from his spot.

"Well I did just wake up," I counter as I leaned against the dresser that was next to the door.

"Have you come to gloat?" He hissed.

I shook my head. "No, to be perfectly honest I'm not quite sure I'm here," I admitted.

My confession hung in the air and I saw Loki form something of a smile. "Are you feeling better?" he asked.

I bit my bottom lip before nodding. "I am. The scans say that I'm cancer free, so thank you for that."

"Well, I needed you fit to rule by my side," he informed.

"But you knew I never would," I quipped. "You knew how I felt about the spotlight, about being in charge."

"I thought that I could change that," Loki said. "That we could become each other's family."

I gave him a painful smile. "I found my family," I said feeling a rush of pride at that statement.

"Family," Loki scoffed. "The same family who decided to let your father die in space."

My heart lurched. "They were doing what they thought was right," I tried to defend them.

"They heard you crying, begging, pleading to wait, and yet they still ignored you. Your family," he spat.

My teeth clenched against each other and I turned my head to break away from his gaze. "So did you," I spat out. "You raged a war on innocent people despite my pleading."

Loki chuckled as he finally stood up and walked over towards me. He stalked towards me, almost like he did on our night together, but instead of something igniting inside of me, I felt my inner self shrivel up and cower. He finished his trek a half of step before me. "You are such a creature, Clara Stark," he said as he reached up and tucked my hair behind my ear.

I swallowed my retort back down and looked back up at him, his eyes while not the ones I remember are greener then they were before. "What's going to happen to you?" I asked.

Loki growled and turned away from me. "I'll be sent back to Asgard with Thor," he spat. "Then who knows what Odin will decide to do."

"That's not what I meant," I corrected. "The person who gave you the scepter, the army. You failed them. What's going to happen to you?"

Loki paused and glanced back to me before turning his back once more. He whispered something I couldn't hear and I was afraid to ask him to repeat it.

Deciding that he was done with our conversation he went back to his chair and sat down, dragging his feet up to the table.

I raised my eyebrow at him and then pushed myself off of the dresser before turning and leaving the room. I shut the door and rested my head against it and closed my eyes and tried to find the strength to leave.

* * *

Strength found me in form of Steve. He grabbed my hand, causing my eyes to open. He led me back to the front room where a few S.H.I.E.L.D. agents and Fury were trying to start clean up. I glanced at the map. "You can't start there," I said as I walked up there.

"And why not?" Fury asked."How exactly are the clean-up crews going to get there?" I countered with a roll of my eyed. "You know what step aside," I commanded.

I pulled out my phone and started dialing a number while I took the pins out of the map.

"Captain Stacey," I greeted. "Will you do me a favor and grab a couple of other captains from some other precincts and bring them and yourself up to Stark Tower? We need your help to start coordinating clean up."

* * *

 **AN: One more chapter left and then the Epilogue guys! Let me know how you guys want this phase to end!**


	11. Chapter 10

**Hey Guys, Its the last chapter. Hope everyone enjoyed the ride that was phase 1!**

 **As Always, read, review and Enjoy!**

* * *

 **Chapter Ten**

* * *

Turns out that planning and organizing was something that I was really good at doing. I had spent that night talking with fire and police chiefs talking about what they needed while booking every hotel, motel, and any other available room for everyone who had been affected and who was coming to help.

The next day we started and it was smooth sailing from there. We had a daycare in the lower level of Stark Tower and food always going for the workers. Everyone got paid for their time and effort (from Stark Industries, of course). The American people really stepped up and we showed ourselves that we would always band together in cases of emergency.

It seemed like the Avengers and S.H.I.E.L.D. were grateful that I took over but the truth was that it kept me busy. If I wasn't at the headquarters working on a problem I was out helping where I could. I was avoiding the situation in true Stark fashion. As much as I didn't want them to, Loki's words got to me. I couldn't help the resentment I felt when I thought about it; about Steve commanding Natasha to close the portal, Natasha following his orders. I wasn't able to divide Steve and Natasha from Black Widow and Captain America. They were heroes in that moment, not people I cared about in that moment.

"Daughter," I heard my dad call for me as I looked up from the massive board where I had put all of the order up.

I grinned, it looks like this was going to stick. "Father," I greeted hopped over the back of the couch and I flopped next to him. "What's up?" I asked him.

"Just checking on you," he said. "It's been two days since you talked to Loki and I haven't seen you since.

"Oh, well, you know I've been busy," I offered pointing the board.

"I've seen," my dad said. "The press has been eating up your involvement."

"I didn't do this for the PR," I grumbled.

"I know," my dad soothed as he patted my knee, "I also know that I'm not the only person you've been avoiding."

"I'm not avoiding anyone!" I exclaimed. My dad instantly called me on my bullshit with one raised eyebrow. "Is it that obvious?" I asked quietly.

"Not to anyone who hasn't spent 19 years knowing you," he said.

"I am 19 now, aren't I?" I asked, not even registering that I was another year older.

"Yep, you're officially an adult. Get out of my house," my dad teased.

I laughed, "Please, what would you do without me?"

We laughed and then it died down, the two of us sitting side by side.

"We are sending Loki away tomorrow," my dad informed me. "Are you coming?"

"I don't know," I admitted. "Phil's funeral is tomorrow morning too."

My dad squeezed my hand. He knew how much Phil meant to me. He was there from the beginning. Sure the two of us went round and round, but Phil just got it. When I had found out the he had died, by Loki's hands, well I've always been a runner, but I was flat out sprinting away from ever facing him again. I had said my thanks and I wasn't going to get any other resolution from that situation.

"He would have loved what you are doing for him," my dad offered.

My lips tried to quirk in a thankful smile but I couldn't muster it. "Can anyone really love what someone else plans for their funeral?" I ask.

The elevator dinged, signaling that our moment was over. I stood up and headed to my bedroom, it was getting late and I thought that maybe a few hours of sleep would help me get through tomorrow. I picked up my tiny device i had rigged and pricked my finger on it, reading the results that still read negative to the strain of cancer I had, I put it back on the desk and tried to relax and fall asleep.

* * *

A few hours turned to be three before I was gasping awake. I threw the covers off and padded to my desk. It had been happening for awhile now; well I guess since the beginning. I missed who I was, the easygoing girl who didn't have a real problem. Then she got blown up, her father was kidnapped, and the rest was history. But I longed to be her again, to fall asleep without knowing that nightmares were waiting for me. I opened the top drawer of the desk and pulled out a half empty bottle of whiskey. The girl who didn't need at least one glass to get through the day.

Taking a swig of the whiskey I opened the manila folders I had, despite my earlier answer I had planned on going to the send off; the last possible second of it, but I was going to be there nonetheless.

Light streamed into my room, dragging me away from my project. I had just finished the last touches as I turned to stare out my window and felt my fingers twitch at the sight. I felt horror at seeing New York like this, broken and damaged. But it's the people that makes me want to capture it; people down there helping each other, working side by side. All around the country people rallied together to help rebuild and save what we could.

I grabbed my sketchbook and my pencils before grabbing my chair and pulling it to the windows. For the first time in years I started to draw. I focused on the details, the woman handing a construction worker a bottle of water. A young man helping a family dig their possessions from the rubble. The tiny things that define us as human beings. I zoomed out a little, but still kept the focus on what was important.

Page after page was filled as I moved to capture each part of the city. It wasn't until my phone alarm chirped alerting me to start getting ready for Phil's funeral. I didn't have much time so I just slipped on a plain black dress with cap sleeves, my black flats and braided my hair into a side braid.

I picked up the folders and slipped them into my messenger bag. Checking my blood one more time, I opened my door and headed towards the elevator. My mind focused on the fact that I was burying someone that I didn't even notice if there was anyone there. I stepped on the elevator and watched as the doors slid shut, taking me down to the garage to my tiny Mini Cooper.

* * *

Despite this being one of several in the latest line of military funerals I've been to. I still flinch at every sound of the guns. My dad takes my hand for comfort but that's all he does.

We are in the public eye today, and while I've chosen not to speak I can't help but feel like I'm on display.

Steve gave the eulogy and told the crowd how much of a good man Phil was. It went off perfect but somehow I still felt like I had failed him somehow.

Red, white, and blue roses were placed on Phil's casket. It was empty, as per Fury's agreement to even allow me to have a funeral for him. But it was important, everyone here needed to say goodbye to Phil.

I stood up, the last one left. Standing at the edge of the casket I held my white rose in my hands. I stared at it, at the tombstone. I couldn't bring myself to place the rose on the casket, because then that's it, that all there is. After I place this rose, Phil Coulson will be buried in the ground, figuratively.

My dad placed his hand on my shoulder while Clint came to stand beside me and grabbed my empty hand.

While this was tough for me I had no idea how hard this was for both Clint and Natasha. Phil was their mentor, their friend. I squeezed Clint's hand, "If I tell you it's not your fault will you believe me?" I whispered to Clint.

"If I tell you that you shouldn't feel guilty about Loki, will you?" Clint countered.

"Touché," I answered as a tear finally trickled down my cheek.

"We're heading out," my dad said.

I nodded my head but made no move to move from my spot.

Clint stepped away from the pair of us and my dad placed a quick kiss on my head. "Take your time," he said, and soon he too disappeared.

They lowered the casket into the ground, and scoop after scoop of dirt gets placed over it, and yet I still can't bring myself to move.

My phone chirped in my bag and I glanced at it, it was time to move, to say goodbye and finish my tasks for the day. I squat and placed my white rose on top of the fresh grave. "You're my hero," I whispered touching the top of the tombstone.

I traced the letters before standing up and straightened my dress before turning and leaving, I take one more glance before slipping a pair of sunglasses on and getting in my car and leaving.

* * *

 _Phil Coulson_

 _A hero, an Avenger, a howling commando._

* * *

I picked up the last piece to my plan and booked it to the park where the team was sending Thor and Loki off.

My tires squeaked as I braked and threw it into park, it looked like I had made it just in time. "Wait!" I called.

Everyone's head turned towards me as I got out of the car.

I smiled at Thor and walked over to give him a hug. "Think you could leave without saying goodbye?" I ask.

Thor smiled and picked my tiny frame up while he gave me a huge hug. "I will miss you Lady Clara," he boomed.

"I have a present for you," I said motioning my head towards my car.

Thor looked over my shoulder and I saw his shoulders relax, he handed me the Tesseract sitting in this tube thing while he headed over to the person getting out of my car.

"Jane," he said as the two of them finally met, sinking into a kiss.

I wondered over to my dad who was next to Bruce. "That was nice," Bruce said.

I shrugged, "I'm a sucker for the hero who gets to win," I said.

My dad pouted. "Well where is mine?" he asked.

I laughed. "Mom's at home," I told him, "waiting with lunch for us."

Bruce chuckled at how quickly my dad's demeanor changed at hearing that mom was waiting for us at home.

"And Bruce's gift?" My dad asked turning the tables on the other scientist.

I gave my dad the Tesseract to hold while I pulled the manila folders out of my bag. "Here yeah go," I said with a smile to the scientist. "As promised."

Bruce opened up the folder and read where exactly I had for him to go.

 _Level 87, Stark Tower._

"Scarlett," he said and then cleared his throat.

I put my hand on top of the folder. "If you're not ready, the next page is what you need," I informed him.

He turned the page and read that information before closing the folder. "Thank you," he said.

Thor came back over to us, a true smile on his face. "Thank you," he said to me as he took the Tesseract from my dad.

I took refuge in between my dad and Bruce, both seeming to get it as everyone turned back to Loki and Thor.

I closed my eyes and took a breath before finally making eye contact with Loki. I thought that hiding behind a pair of sunglasses would help, but it didn't. The two of us kept eye contact before he disappeared with his brother in a column of blue light.

* * *

 **Loki's POV**

He stared at her, willing her to say something, anything to him before he was whisked away form her. Just seeing her one last time was a pleasant surprise, he had believed what the Widow had said about her not wanting to see me every again.

He had wanted to win so badly, to conquer this world and demand that they see her for who she is, a queen, his queen. Together they would have ruled side by side, creating a home, a family for the both of us. Something had happened, however, her family had rallied together to fight for her back, to save her. She had found the thing that they were both so desperate for a year ago, a home.

Loki couldn't help the growl in his throat at seeing that man, that iron man stand like he was her protector. He had had his shot at being her father, and blown it. He didn't deserve the second chance his queen had given so easily. And yet, while he was angry at her for allowing such a transgression to happen against her, the thought that she would be willing to forgive so readily gave him a glimmer of hope. because this wasn't the last time he was going to see her, no. He had failed yes, but he was the god of mischief and chaos. He had a plan B and a plan C in action before Thor even knew there was a threat to this world. Loki smiled behind his mask, he was going to get his second chance with her.

Thor grabbed Loki's arm and the two of them were off before Loki had a chance to look at her once more.

* * *

I released the breath I didn't know I was holding as soon as they were gone.

I walked over to Clint and Natasha.

"You doing okay, Tweety?" Clint asked.

I shook my head but gave him a hug and handed him his folder.

He looked over it, and then back at me. "Tweety," he said.

I raised my hand and handed Natasha her folder.

"You guys saved the world, take it," I said.

"What did you get?" Natasha asked.

"Paid time off," Clint read from the folder. "For as long as I need and a weeklong vacation in Disneyland Paris with one night in Sleeping Beauty's castle for Laura and I while Tweety watches the kids, dates TBD. You?"

"Paid time off," Natasha read. "With a week in a spa in Paris, dates TBD."

The two spies looked at me the same expression as I shrugged my shoulders.

"How did you mange this?" Clint asked.

I raised my eyebrow. "Are you doubting the power that being me comes with?" I asked

"Yes," Natasha said.

"Fair," I admitted. "And the World Council dropped a nuke on the city; Fury was desperate for that information to stay in the shadows."

Clint chuckled as I turned to leave them, heading straight towards Steve.

"Hey stranger," he said.

"Hey yourself," I countered as I walked over to him.

"Is it my turn?" He asked.

"Well," I said looking at the motorcycle that he still had. "Seems like you're keeping the Harley."

Steve turned red as he looked back at the motorcycle. "I'm sorry," he began

"No," I said. "Keep it, it's yours. And so is this," I said.

Steve looked at the folder before looking back up at me.

"I had to pull a couple of strings," I said. "But I finally managed to find her."

"In D.C.," Steve read, "a nursing home."

"She has Alzheimer's," I informed him. "It's a disease that effects your memory, it's awful."

Steve took a breath, "I need to see her."

"I'm sure she would love that," I said. "Call the number and the nurse can help set everything up."

Steve shut the folder and gave me another hug. "Thank you," he said.

I pulled away, "like I said, I think the hero should win."

Everyone said their goodbyes and went their separate ways; Jane went with Dr. S and I headed towards my Mini. The drive back to the tower was slow, most of the roads were still blocked, but the city was coming together a little more every day.

* * *

I walked back into the Tower, I could hear my mom and dad talking in the kitchen, laughing and enjoying the moment.

I felt everything melt away as I turned into the kitchen. Mom hugged me and I felt for the first time that everything was going to be all right.

* * *

 **AN: There we go, the official end to Heroes Assembled, There will be a little teaser coming tomorrow, but after that I get straight on a plane and off to explore I go.**

 **I wanted to say thank you so much to everyone who liked or favorited, and a huge thanks to the people who reviewed. I know I say this after every story but, its the truth. Knowing that you guys like what I am creating is a huge confidence booster that keeps me from doubting what I create. Even if you read stories but don't review them, I know I am guilty of that sometimes, feel free to just drop in the review box your final thoughts on the story and where you want it to go from there.**


	12. Epilogue

**As Always, I do not own Marvel.**

 **Read, Review and Enjoy! We are so close to 150 reviews! Can we get there with this?**

* * *

 **Epilogue**

* * *

I woke up to a sound in the kitchen, a glass breaking maybe? I threw the blankets back and padded my way into the kitchen. "Dad?" I called out wondering what the hell was going on.

I rubbed my eyes as I stepped into the lighted kitchen.

"Clara," a voice murmured.

I snapped my head up at that voice.

"Lo-Loki?" I asked taking a step back.

He grabbed my hand and pulled me towards him.

"No," I cried.

"Shh," Loki soothed. "My queen, everything is okay."

"No, no, no," I repeated, whishing for whatever this was to be over.

I broke free and turned to run before tripping over something, bile rose in my throat as I pushed myself up by my hands, I saw my father's dead body. Staring blank eyed into nothing.

I let out a scream.

* * *

I shot up in my bed, gasping as I pushed my hair away from my sweaty forehead. It was dark outside still. Placing my head in my hands, I tried to push away those awful images but they still flashed behind my closed eyelids.

I threw the blankets back and walked over to my desk, my whiskey bottle was empty so I made my way to the front room to the bar.

I stopped when I saw my dad sitting there.

"Dad?" I asked.

He patted the stool next to him and I slowly sank next to him.

"You used to give me so much shit," he began. "When I would drink or come home drunk."

I opened my mouth but I couldn't find any words that could explain or defend myself.

"I've been ignoring it," he said. "When I came, and then I was dying and then you were dying. And then we both died. I'm worried about you."

"Dad I-" I tried but then fell silent again.

"I've been thinking about going back to Malibu," my dad said. "Your mom and I, and I want you to come with us. But I'm going to be on your ass for this. No more drinking for either of us."

I licked my lips and swallowed. "I don't know how to, how to cope," I confessed.

My dad took my hand. "I don't either, and there are some days when I want nothing more than to drown myself to turn everything off. But then I remember I have Pepper, and you. And I try to find some other way to turn it off. I know I've dropped the ball, but I'm going to be here for you, for this."

I looked over at him and nodded my head. "Yeah," I said. "Let's go."

* * *

 **AN Cut to black as the end credits roll and dramatic music plays! hahahaha but in all seriousness, I'm having a little trouble about where I should take Scarlett for I3, I feel like she has moved on from damsel so I don't think I'm going to have Killian kidnap her, but I** **don't know where else she would be, in Ten. with Tony? ugh, If you guys have thoughts or ideas then feel free to leave them in the box below.**

 **Also I'm having this competition where if you put your idea for story title in the box, I'll have a very special surprise for the winner. Also who** **would you guys like to see a cameo in the next story the person with the most votes wins!**


	13. Announcement

**Hey Guys!**

 **I'm back and in the thick of writing. I've heard your opinions and have made the adjustments accordingly.**

 **I am here to announce the title of the next installment, annnnnddd we have a tie on cameo appearances.**

 **The title drum roll please**

 **... Hero Recovered!**

 **Also we had a tie with the cameo appearances and I wanted to put it back to you guys on a vote.**

 **the contestants are Wade Wilson and Matt Murdock!**

 **Leave your opinion below and the new story should be up in a couple of days.**

 **And yes, I'm just bringing this back to you guys because i'm 3 short of 150 reviews :)**


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